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Notes: Saturday Practice
Ferrari's rivals got a bit closer to the scarlet juggernaut during
the two 45-minute practice sessions prior to the qualifying-sessions
at Albert Park. Michael Schumacher is still on top, but his fellow
F2004-steerer Rubens Barrichello was pipped to the line by a couple of
BMW-Williams cars.

The FW26, however, still doesn't look great over the bumps. 'No,
it's ok [in that area],' tester Marc Gene insisted.

Cristiano da Matta (12th) had another poor session in the Toyota as he
was forced, again, to pull over on the circuit but it wasn't another
tire failure.

ANGRY CHAMPION

Before the young Brazilian halted, however, he annoyed a gesticulating
six-times world champion at Turn Three by not giving him enough space
to overtake. Technical chief Mike Gascoyne hinted at an
electrical glitch and, after the TF104 was brought back to the pits,
mechanics started work on the front-end.

Minardi racer Gianmaria Bruni returned to the pits with a huge plume
of smoke pouring from his Cosworth V10, sparking concern about the
'one engine' rule.

Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren (9th) had a big moment at the very-quick
Turn-12.

Most F1 analysts in pitlane were talking about the increasing amount
of understeer that had crept-into the Melbourne street-circuit since
Friday. One mechanic said his F1 team was making half-millimeter
adjustments to chassis ride-height in a bid to counter the problem.

Minardi chief Paul Stoddart, whose best car (Gimmi Bruni, 19) was more
than 5-seconds off the pace, lamented that the gap has increased to
the front-runners. But he is impressed with the pace of his
Bridgestone tires. 'Everyone thought Michelin would struggle but
those red cars are still ahead,' said the Aussie, who denied that
Ferrari ran light on Friday. 'No they're not light. I think
everyone's just got to face up to the fact that their new car is just
mega. And it's also Schumacher's pure driving ability.'

3/5/04

Notes: Australian Grand Prix
Jordan's third-driver Giorgio Pantano had a baptism of fire in
Australia. The young German had a suspected terminal gearbox
problem on Friday but, even before that, he had earned the wrath of
race and F1 team officials. 'He made a classic mistake,' said
boss Eddie Jordan. 'He went two kilometres over the speed-limit
in pitlane and was fined seriously. I'll say no more. You don't like
that.'

Not only did Timo fail visibly in the afternoon, however, the
Silverstone-based team revealed that his EJ14 wasn't working properly
in the morning, either. 'Maybe it was the gearbox,' said Glock
on Friday evening.

NOT ACCEPTABLE

Head of race and test engineering James Robinson was still evaluating
the failure-cause when he spoke to the press but he said it was 'not
acceptable.' 'It can't happen to lose valuable time like that in
both sessions,' he said.

Michelin boss Pierre Dupasquier played-down suggestions on Friday that
his French-tyred F1 teams like Renault and BMW-Williams are lagging
behind Ferrari. He said the day's fastest Michelin ace Jarno
Trulli completed a long-run at the same time as Rubens Barrichello and
there was barely a tenth between them.

Bridgestone counterpart Hisao Suganuma, however, was enthusing about
new tire-specifications that lifted Michael Schumacher to no-less than
two lap-records. 'We've improved handling at the front,' he
said, 'and traction at the rear.' Asked what the improvement is
from last season, he quipped: 'About a second.'

3/5/04

Notes: Saturday at Albert Park
Cristiano da Matta is on 'Full Attack' for his second season in
Formula One. The Toyota driver, born in Brazil, has those words
printed on his airbox-filler and his steering-wheel at this weekend's
Australian Formula One Grand Prix. 'It just reminds me to keep
going all the time,' he told us.

Melbourne's crowd on Thursday and Friday broke previous attendance
records. Official figures stood at 51,000 for Thursday, before a
grand prix wheel had even turned, and then swelled to 80,000 as
Ferrari went fastest on Friday.

EXPENSIVE STUFF

Michael Schumacher's new 'six times' cap will set you back $61 Aussie
dollars. It's just one item that can be purchased from the new
1000-square metre marquee at Albert Park in which all ten F1 teams are
selling merchandise this year.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone helped open the 'superstore' and grand
prix chairman Ron Walker said it would collect around $4 million this
weekend alone. 'I think it is reasonable to hope we'll have it
elsewhere too,' said Mr. E.

A few drops of rain began to fall here at the Australian Grand Prix
circuit, just south of picturesque Melbourne, before official practice
on Saturday. But a weather source said the rest of the day will
stay dry. Cloud hangs over the track at lunch-time and it should
rise to 26-degrees later today, and some are worrying that the rain
could switch to Sunday's race-day.

3/5/04

Schumacher fastest again, Juan 2nd
Michael Schumacher again topped the time sheets in the final
practice session at Albert Park before qualifying for the first Grand
Prix of the 2004 Formula 1 World Championship. The German lapped
in 1m25.093s, slower than his lightning fast Friday time of 1m24.718s.
For the first time all weekend, it wasn't a Ferrari 1-2. Second
fastest this time was the Williams-BMW of Juan Pablo Montoya, the
Colombian stopping the clocks at 1m25.255s. His teammate Ralf
Schumacher was third on 1m25.628s , the pair of them only completing
nine laps each as they preserve their engines under the new rules.
Rubens Barrichello was fourth fastest with a 1m25.649, with Fernando
Alonso fifth in the Renault, and Olivier Panis an impressive sixth in
the Toyota. With the general dismay at the speed of the Ferraris
on the opening day of practice in Melbourne, in the final session
before qualifying it was interesting to see the top 10 covered by just
1.1s.

Louie Unser dies Louie
Unser, who was chief mechanic on two of his brothers' cars when they
made their debuts in the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, died March 2 in
Anaheim, Calif. He was 71. Unser was the twin brother of Jerry Unser,
who in 1958 became the first Unser to qualify for the Indianapolis
500. Louie was his chief mechanic and then in 1965 handled the same
duties for Al, the youngest of the famed Unser brothers. Al Unser went
on to the win the race four times.

"If it wasn't for Louie, I wouldn't have made it at the Speedway," Al
Unser said. "He pushed me." Bobby, the other Unser brother, won
the Indianapolis 500 three times. Jerry Unser was fatally injured in a
1959 accident at the Speedway.

Louie Unser, born 10 minutes after Jerry on Nov. 15, 1932, in Colorado
Springs, Colo., moved with the family to Albuquerque, N.M., when he
was 4. In 1955, Jerry Unser Sr. took his sons back to Colorado Springs
for the annual Pikes Peak Hill Climb. Louie was driving a tour
bus up the mountain, but his father refused to allow him to race in
the wheel tracks of his famous uncle of the same name. So Louie
slipped into brother Bobby's Jaguar on race day and placed third
overall.

But Louie had greater skills as a mechanic, so in 1956 he went to work
for Bill Stroppe's factory team that was based next door to brother's
Jerry's DePaolo Engineering USAC racing team. Both teams folded in
1957, when factories withdrew their support. So the brothers purchased
the equipment and went racing together. Jerry earned the 1957 stock
car championship and presented his diamond ring to Louie, who wore it
the rest of his life. Louie also was named mechanic of the year that
season.

Jerry and Louie showed up at Indy in 1958, and Jerry jumped from car
to car until he qualified the McKay Spl. in 24th place. Jerry didn't
complete a lap as he got tangled in an accident in the north chute on
Turn 1. From 1960-62, Louie worked with Stroppe, Carroll
Shelby's AC Cobra team and others building engines in the shop, and
changing tires and refueling cars in the races. He worked on a car in
the four-month East Africa Safari in 1964 despite suffering from
multiple sclerosis.

Still, Louie managed the strength to act as crew chief with Al Unser
in 1965 at Indianapolis before retiring from trackside involvement. He
started an engine-building business in Southern California, and his
powerplants helped brother Bobby Unser and Mario Andretti to race to
victories at Pikes Peak. He also built strong, winning engines for
sprint cars, sports cars and racing boats.

By the 1970s, Louie was confined to a wheelchair, but he continued
working until the 1990s. Louie and his wife, Laverne, participated in
many MS-related fund-raising and research events over the years. He
was inducted into the Orange County (Calif.) Hall of Fame in 1997. His
final visit to the Indianapolis was for the 1999 Brickyard 400.
Survivors are his wife; a daughter, Lynn; brothers Bobby and Al; and
three grandsons. A memorial service will take place later this
month. Cards of condolence may be mailed to Laverne Unser at 500
Meadowbrook Place, Anaheim, CA 92801.

3/5/04

Pace Car team plays golf
Before the PGA Tour stars teed off for the second annual
Ford Championship at Doral in Miami yesterday, Champ Car’s
Pace Car Team joined the Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure Tour
and a host of Ford NASCAR drivers to show PGA standout Phil
Mickelson and a dozen other Tour professionals some high
speed driving tips on the Homestead-Miami Speedway infield
road course.

Ford, the official powerplant of the Champ Car World Series,
sponsored the second-year event and offered PGA Tour stars a
chance to take the driver’s seat with assistance from the
Champ Car Pace Car team, along with Ford NASCAR pilots Dale
Jarrett, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Elliot Sadler.

Allison Altzman, Linda Pobst, Gail Truess and Kelly Williams
were all on hand to represent the Pace Car Team in Miami as
Ford brought out an all-star lineup of performance cars
highlighted by its 500-horsepower Ford GT supercar. The
event may have provided one of the golfers with a glimpse of
their future wheels, as the winner of the 2004 Ford
Championship at Doral will receive one of the high-powered
machines. The same Ford SVT Mustang Cobra and SVT Focus that
are used at every Champ Car event were also on hand at the
event, complementing a race-ready NASCAR Ford Taurus.

The Pace Car Team provided instruction for the golfers
around the infield road course before taking them for a hot
lap and then releasing them on their own. The friendly
on-track competition culminated with an awards ceremony and
reception with a trophy being given to Glen Day, the PGA
Tour player with the fastest speed at 146 mph.

The Champ Car Pace Car Team is the only one of its kind in
all of motorsports. A fleet of high-performance pace cars
from Ford Motor Company are piloted by a team of
professional women race car drivers, all of whom have earned
recognition in various forms of motor racing. With 68
combined years of pace car experience woven throughout this
nine-woman squad, their degrees in race car finesse are
unparalleled.

3/5/04

Borkowski to drive for Miracle
Miracle Motorsports announced today, that veteran driver,
Mike Borkowski (Scottsdale, AZ) will be joining forces with
John Macaluso of Winter Haven, FL, as well as co-driver Ian
James of Kissimmee, FL, for the 52nd running of the Mobil 1
Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Mike brings extensive experience to the driving line-up for
this event. Among his numerous accomplishments, he was
Factory driver for both Brumos Porsche in 2003, as well as
Oldsmobile Aurora GTRS-1 team in 1996. Mike has competed in
various forms of racing ranging from Indy Lights with
Rahal’s team in 1998, to the NASCAR Busch Series and Winston
Cup testing in 1999-2000. In addition, Mike posses the 1997
Trans-Am Series Rookie of the Year award.

“I am excited to be joining both Ian James and John Macaluso
for the 2004 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. I have known
them both for years and truly feel like the three of us will
have a solid shot at winning our class. I have to thank John
for the opportunity to join his organization.” states
Borkowski. “Ian is a great friend and an excellent driver.
This will be my first opportunity to team with him and I am
very confident we will do well together.”

“I am very excited to have Mike join our team. I am very
confident in his ability, and look forward to a great race
with the team we have assembled,” says John Macaluso, team
owner/driver of the Miracle Motorsports/American Spirit
Racing entry.

“Sebring is one of the premier Sportscar races in history.
Every driver wants to win this one. I have dreamed of
winning there since I was a kid. Maybe this will be the
one,” stated Mike.

3/5/04

Briatore wants costs cut 50%
“The escalation of the price is completely crazy,” Flavio
Briatore said in Melbourne, where the Australian Grand Prix
weekend is underway. “I believe the team principals need to
sit together and look at 2006, 2007 and 2008. If we are
serious, we need to cut the costs dramatically…we need to
cut 50 percent of what we spend and it is possible to do the
same show. In 1994 we spent less than 50 percent of what we
spend now and we had very good races.” Briatore agreed with
Ecclestone: “With testing we spend money, when we are racing
we make money because our business is racing. The more you
test, the more you spend.”

3/5/04

Elliott in 91 in Vegas
Bill Elliott will make his first official Nextel Cup start
of the season Sunday at Las Vegas. Elliott, who ran the
non-points Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, will drive the No.
91 Dodge for Evernham Motorsports. The car is unique in that
the chassis was built in-house by engineers from Ray
Evernham's team and from Dodge Motorsports. The team hopes
to have its regular drivers Jeremy Mayfield and Kasey Kahne
in similar cars before the year's end. Elliott tested the
new car earlier this year at Las Vegas. "We were pretty
satisfied with how we came out," he said. "But we've got to
get a dialogue with it and really understand it. "You can
tell a difference between the Evernham chassis and what we
were running. There are some things that are similar, but
there's a lot that's different." Elliott hopes to make
several more Cup races in his first season of
semi-retirement, but so far there's no sponsorship in place
for his car. "We have a couple of things in the works, but
nothing is concrete yet," he said.

3/5/04

Key to the circuit handed over
in Bahrain
The finishing touches to the home of the Gulf Air Bahrain
Grand Prix reached a crucial stage today Friday, March 5th
when main construction contractor Cebarco officially handed
over the circuit keys to the US$150 million Bahrain
International Circuit organisation ahead of schedule.

At the ceremony, the Chairman and CEO of the construction
company Cebarco Mr Khalid M.A. Rahim presented Shaikh
Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa with a commemorative gold key
in recognition of the historic event.

Accepting the key on behalf of the circuit Shaikh Mohammed
said, "This is a momentous day for all of us involved in the
construction of the Bahrain International Circuit. The past
16 months since the ground breaking ceremony have seen the
realisation of a dream here in the desert at Sakhir. On
behalf of His Highness the Crown Prince Shaikh Salman Bin
Hamad Al Khalifa and everyone in Bahrain, I would like to
congratulate the whole team that has worked so tirelessly to
produce what is the most modern and technologically-advanced
motor racing circuit in the world."

During the course of the construction period up to 3,000
engineers, designers and workers have focused their efforts
on building the 5.441km track together with its impressive
complex of buildings and grandstands. The desert circuit is
unique in the world of Formula One and combines leading-edge
technology with fine examples of Arabic architecture and
iconic buildings such as the Sakhir Tower. In less than 30
days it will host the third round of the FIA Formula One
World Championship, the first time that a Formula One race
has been held in the Middle East. when main construction
contractor Cebarco officially handed over the circuit keys
to the US$150 million Bahrain International Circuit
organisation ahead of schedule.

During the course of the construction period up to 3,000
engineers, designers and workers have focused their efforts
on building the 5.441km track together with its impressive
complex of buildings and grandstands. The desert circuit is
unique in the world of Formula One and combines leading-edge
technology with fine examples of Arabic architecture and
iconic buildings such as the Sakhir Tower. In less than 30
days it will host the third round of the FIA Formula One
World Championship, the first time that a Formula One race
has been held in the Middle East.

3/5/04Drifting

Bridgestone driver wins
drifting race
Kei Office driver Yasuyuki Kazama picked up his first D1
Grand Prix victory on Feb. 28 during round one of the 2004
season, held in Irwindale, Calif. Sponsored at the event by
Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT),
Kazama won the 2004 D1 Grand Prix U.S.A. professional drift
event in a 414-horsepower Nissan Silvia equipped with
Bridgestone-brand Potenza® RE750 tires. This marks the
second season that BFNT has sponsored Kazama for the
Irwindale event. It is the only D1 event currently staged in
the United States, with all other 2004 events taking place
in Japan. The partnership with Kei Office will continue
throughout the 2004 season through a sponsorship agreement
between the team and Bridgestone Corporation in Japan.
Drifting is a highly skilled motorsport in which drivers
control a car using precise acceleration, steering and
braking while it slides from side to side at high speeds on
a closed, marked course. Participants are judged not only on
the speed through which they navigate the course, but also
on execution and style. Already a well-established
motorsport in Japan, it took the U.S. sport compact world by
storm at its debut at Irwindale Speedway in 2003. This
year’s event attracted an estimated 10,000 spectators. Round
two of the 2004 season will take place at Sugo Circuit in
Japan on May 4-5. The Bridgestone Potenza RE750, with UNI-T®
technology, is an ultra-high performance tire that has been
engineered to complement the style and complex systems of
today's finest performance cars. The Potenza RE750, with its
unidirectional tread pattern, delivers rapid response,
traction and outstanding wet and dry handling, taking
performance straight to the top.

3/5/04

Some interesting F1 engine
figures
This season’s engines are expected to be around 5-10% down
on power, but they’ll still be under colossal pressure.
Allianz calculates that they have to cope with an average of
2600 gear changes per race, as well as something like eight
million ignitions per cylinder. Piston speeds reach 40
meters per second, the exhaust temperatures get up to 950
degrees Celsius, and each connecting rod has to cope with
the equivalent of a three-ton load.

3/5/04

IRL is destroying the Indy
500 This
table
gives a complete history of the Indy 500 TV broadcasts since
the USAC days in 1973. In 1979 CART was born and the 500
enjoyed excellent ratings until Tony George created the IRL
in 1996. Since then it's been all downhill for the
once great America race. Such is progress......Tell us
one more time why we need the IRL? Costs have risen,
they are struggling to fill the 33-car field, just as many
foreign drivers are in the field, attendance is down and the
TV ratings are tanking. Contrary to what the IRL
propaganda machine would like us all to think, most long for
the good old "CART" days at the 500.

3/5/04

Toyota struggles on first day
Toyota's preparations for this weekend's Australian Grand
Prix in Melbourne were hampered by glitches with all three
of its cars during Friday's practice sessions. Brazilian
Cristiano da Matta finished 14th and 16th in the two
sessions, suffered a couple of spins and failed to finish
the second run thanks to a puncture in his rear-left tyre.
He said: “In the first hour, the track didn't have much grip
and we decided not to run much. In the second session, I
experienced some brake problems. Not the best start to the
weekend.” Meanwhile, fellow race driver Olivier Panis
struggled with the set-up of his car and was held up by
traffic during his quick laps on new tires, ending up 16th
and 18th. “I had a difficult first day in Australia,” he
said. “We were unable to complete many laps and I am not yet
happy with the set-up.” Third driver Ricardo Zonta did
manage to complete a back-to-back tire test for the team,
giving them a clear idea of which rubber to choose for
tomorrow's qualifying and Sunday's race, but even Zonta's
runs were not without their problems. Toyota technical
director Mike Gascoyne said: “Ricardo had a small electrical
problem, which limited his running. Both race drivers had
some little problems. Overall, the session panned out pretty
much as expected and we got some good data.”
Autosport

3/5/04

Notes: Saturday Practice
Ferrari's rivals got a bit closer to the scarlet juggernaut during
the two 45-minute practice sessions prior to the qualifying-sessions
at Albert Park. Michael Schumacher is still on top, but his fellow
F2004-steerer Rubens Barrichello was pipped to the line by a couple of
BMW-Williams cars.

The FW26, however, still doesn't look great over the bumps. 'No,
it's ok [in that area],' tester Marc Gene insisted.

Cristiano da Matta (12th) had another poor session in the Toyota as he
was forced, again, to pull over on the circuit but it wasn't another
tire failure.

ANGRY CHAMPION

Before the young Brazilian halted, however, he annoyed a gesticulating
six-times world champion at Turn Three by not giving him enough space
to overtake. Technical chief Mike Gascoyne hinted at an
electrical glitch and, after the TF104 was brought back to the pits,
mechanics started work on the front-end.

Minardi racer Gianmaria Bruni returned to the pits with a huge plume
of smoke pouring from his Cosworth V10, sparking concern about the
'one engine' rule.

Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren (9th) had a big moment at the very-quick
Turn-12.

Most F1 analysts in pitlane were talking about the increasing amount
of understeer that had crept-into the Melbourne street-circuit since
Friday. One mechanic said his F1 team was making half-millimeter
adjustments to chassis ride-height in a bid to counter the problem.

Minardi chief Paul Stoddart, whose best car (Gimmi Bruni, 19) was more
than 5-seconds off the pace, lamented that the gap has increased to
the front-runners. But he is impressed with the pace of his
Bridgestone tires. 'Everyone thought Michelin would struggle but
those red cars are still ahead,' said the Aussie, who denied that
Ferrari ran light on Friday. 'No they're not light. I think
everyone's just got to face up to the fact that their new car is just
mega. And it's also Schumacher's pure driving ability.'

3/5/04

Notes: Australian Grand Prix
Jordan's third-driver Giorgio Pantano had a baptism of fire in
Australia. The young German had a suspected terminal gearbox
problem on Friday but, even before that, he had earned the wrath of
race and F1 team officials. 'He made a classic mistake,' said
boss Eddie Jordan. 'He went two kilometres over the speed-limit
in pitlane and was fined seriously. I'll say no more. You don't like
that.'

Not only did Timo fail visibly in the afternoon, however, the
Silverstone-based team revealed that his EJ14 wasn't working properly
in the morning, either. 'Maybe it was the gearbox,' said Glock
on Friday evening.

NOT ACCEPTABLE

Head of race and test engineering James Robinson was still evaluating
the failure-cause when he spoke to the press but he said it was 'not
acceptable.' 'It can't happen to lose valuable time like that in
both sessions,' he said.

Michelin boss Pierre Dupasquier played-down suggestions on Friday that
his French-tyred F1 teams like Renault and BMW-Williams are lagging
behind Ferrari. He said the day's fastest Michelin ace Jarno
Trulli completed a long-run at the same time as Rubens Barrichello and
there was barely a tenth between them.

Bridgestone counterpart Hisao Suganuma, however, was enthusing about
new tire-specifications that lifted Michael Schumacher to no-less than
two lap-records. 'We've improved handling at the front,' he
said, 'and traction at the rear.' Asked what the improvement is
from last season, he quipped: 'About a second.'

3/5/04

Notes: Saturday at Albert Park
Cristiano da Matta is on 'Full Attack' for his second season in
Formula One. The Toyota driver, born in Brazil, has those words
printed on his airbox-filler and his steering-wheel at this weekend's
Australian Formula One Grand Prix. 'It just reminds me to keep
going all the time,' he told us.

Melbourne's crowd on Thursday and Friday broke previous attendance
records. Official figures stood at 51,000 for Thursday, before a
grand prix wheel had even turned, and then swelled to 80,000 as
Ferrari went fastest on Friday.

EXPENSIVE STUFF

Michael Schumacher's new 'six times' cap will set you back $61 Aussie
dollars. It's just one item that can be purchased from the new
1000-square metre marquee at Albert Park in which all ten F1 teams are
selling merchandise this year.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone helped open the 'superstore' and grand
prix chairman Ron Walker said it would collect around $4 million this
weekend alone. 'I think it is reasonable to hope we'll have it
elsewhere too,' said Mr. E.

A few drops of rain began to fall here at the Australian Grand Prix
circuit, just south of picturesque Melbourne, before official practice
on Saturday. But a weather source said the rest of the day will
stay dry. Cloud hangs over the track at lunch-time and it should
rise to 26-degrees later today, and some are worrying that the rain
could switch to Sunday's race-day.

3/5/04

Schumacher fastest again, Juan 2nd
Michael Schumacher again topped the time sheets in the final
practice session at Albert Park before qualifying for the first Grand
Prix of the 2004 Formula 1 World Championship. The German lapped
in 1m25.093s, slower than his lightning fast Friday time of 1m24.718s.
For the first time all weekend, it wasn't a Ferrari 1-2. Second
fastest this time was the Williams-BMW of Juan Pablo Montoya, the
Colombian stopping the clocks at 1m25.255s. His teammate Ralf
Schumacher was third on 1m25.628s , the pair of them only completing
nine laps each as they preserve their engines under the new rules.
Rubens Barrichello was fourth fastest with a 1m25.649, with Fernando
Alonso fifth in the Renault, and Olivier Panis an impressive sixth in
the Toyota. With the general dismay at the speed of the Ferraris
on the opening day of practice in Melbourne, in the final session
before qualifying it was interesting to see the top 10 covered by just
1.1s.

Louie Unser dies Louie
Unser, who was chief mechanic on two of his brothers' cars when they
made their debuts in the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, died March 2 in
Anaheim, Calif. He was 71. Unser was the twin brother of Jerry Unser,
who in 1958 became the first Unser to qualify for the Indianapolis
500. Louie was his chief mechanic and then in 1965 handled the same
duties for Al, the youngest of the famed Unser brothers. Al Unser went
on to the win the race four times.

"If it wasn't for Louie, I wouldn't have made it at the Speedway," Al
Unser said. "He pushed me." Bobby, the other Unser brother, won
the Indianapolis 500 three times. Jerry Unser was fatally injured in a
1959 accident at the Speedway.

Louie Unser, born 10 minutes after Jerry on Nov. 15, 1932, in Colorado
Springs, Colo., moved with the family to Albuquerque, N.M., when he
was 4. In 1955, Jerry Unser Sr. took his sons back to Colorado Springs
for the annual Pikes Peak Hill Climb. Louie was driving a tour
bus up the mountain, but his father refused to allow him to race in
the wheel tracks of his famous uncle of the same name. So Louie
slipped into brother Bobby's Jaguar on race day and placed third
overall.

But Louie had greater skills as a mechanic, so in 1956 he went to work
for Bill Stroppe's factory team that was based next door to brother's
Jerry's DePaolo Engineering USAC racing team. Both teams folded in
1957, when factories withdrew their support. So the brothers purchased
the equipment and went racing together. Jerry earned the 1957 stock
car championship and presented his diamond ring to Louie, who wore it
the rest of his life. Louie also was named mechanic of the year that
season.

Jerry and Louie showed up at Indy in 1958, and Jerry jumped from car
to car until he qualified the McKay Spl. in 24th place. Jerry didn't
complete a lap as he got tangled in an accident in the north chute on
Turn 1. From 1960-62, Louie worked with Stroppe, Carroll
Shelby's AC Cobra team and others building engines in the shop, and
changing tires and refueling cars in the races. He worked on a car in
the four-month East Africa Safari in 1964 despite suffering from
multiple sclerosis.

Still, Louie managed the strength to act as crew chief with Al Unser
in 1965 at Indianapolis before retiring from trackside involvement. He
started an engine-building business in Southern California, and his
powerplants helped brother Bobby Unser and Mario Andretti to race to
victories at Pikes Peak. He also built strong, winning engines for
sprint cars, sports cars and racing boats.

By the 1970s, Louie was confined to a wheelchair, but he continued
working until the 1990s. Louie and his wife, Laverne, participated in
many MS-related fund-raising and research events over the years. He
was inducted into the Orange County (Calif.) Hall of Fame in 1997. His
final visit to the Indianapolis was for the 1999 Brickyard 400.
Survivors are his wife; a daughter, Lynn; brothers Bobby and Al; and
three grandsons. A memorial service will take place later this
month. Cards of condolence may be mailed to Laverne Unser at 500
Meadowbrook Place, Anaheim, CA 92801.

3/5/04

Pace Car team plays golf
Before the PGA Tour stars teed off for the second annual
Ford Championship at Doral in Miami yesterday, Champ Car’s
Pace Car Team joined the Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure Tour
and a host of Ford NASCAR drivers to show PGA standout Phil
Mickelson and a dozen other Tour professionals some high
speed driving tips on the Homestead-Miami Speedway infield
road course.

Ford, the official powerplant of the Champ Car World Series,
sponsored the second-year event and offered PGA Tour stars a
chance to take the driver’s seat with assistance from the
Champ Car Pace Car team, along with Ford NASCAR pilots Dale
Jarrett, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Elliot Sadler.

Allison Altzman, Linda Pobst, Gail Truess and Kelly Williams
were all on hand to represent the Pace Car Team in Miami as
Ford brought out an all-star lineup of performance cars
highlighted by its 500-horsepower Ford GT supercar. The
event may have provided one of the golfers with a glimpse of
their future wheels, as the winner of the 2004 Ford
Championship at Doral will receive one of the high-powered
machines. The same Ford SVT Mustang Cobra and SVT Focus that
are used at every Champ Car event were also on hand at the
event, complementing a race-ready NASCAR Ford Taurus.

The Pace Car Team provided instruction for the golfers
around the infield road course before taking them for a hot
lap and then releasing them on their own. The friendly
on-track competition culminated with an awards ceremony and
reception with a trophy being given to Glen Day, the PGA
Tour player with the fastest speed at 146 mph.

The Champ Car Pace Car Team is the only one of its kind in
all of motorsports. A fleet of high-performance pace cars
from Ford Motor Company are piloted by a team of
professional women race car drivers, all of whom have earned
recognition in various forms of motor racing. With 68
combined years of pace car experience woven throughout this
nine-woman squad, their degrees in race car finesse are
unparalleled.

3/5/04

Borkowski to drive for Miracle
Miracle Motorsports announced today, that veteran driver,
Mike Borkowski (Scottsdale, AZ) will be joining forces with
John Macaluso of Winter Haven, FL, as well as co-driver Ian
James of Kissimmee, FL, for the 52nd running of the Mobil 1
Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Mike brings extensive experience to the driving line-up for
this event. Among his numerous accomplishments, he was
Factory driver for both Brumos Porsche in 2003, as well as
Oldsmobile Aurora GTRS-1 team in 1996. Mike has competed in
various forms of racing ranging from Indy Lights with
Rahal’s team in 1998, to the NASCAR Busch Series and Winston
Cup testing in 1999-2000. In addition, Mike posses the 1997
Trans-Am Series Rookie of the Year award.

“I am excited to be joining both Ian James and John Macaluso
for the 2004 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. I have known
them both for years and truly feel like the three of us will
have a solid shot at winning our class. I have to thank John
for the opportunity to join his organization.” states
Borkowski. “Ian is a great friend and an excellent driver.
This will be my first opportunity to team with him and I am
very confident we will do well together.”

“I am very excited to have Mike join our team. I am very
confident in his ability, and look forward to a great race
with the team we have assembled,” says John Macaluso, team
owner/driver of the Miracle Motorsports/American Spirit
Racing entry.

“Sebring is one of the premier Sportscar races in history.
Every driver wants to win this one. I have dreamed of
winning there since I was a kid. Maybe this will be the
one,” stated Mike.

3/5/04

Briatore wants costs cut 50%
“The escalation of the price is completely crazy,” Flavio
Briatore said in Melbourne, where the Australian Grand Prix
weekend is underway. “I believe the team principals need to
sit together and look at 2006, 2007 and 2008. If we are
serious, we need to cut the costs dramatically…we need to
cut 50 percent of what we spend and it is possible to do the
same show. In 1994 we spent less than 50 percent of what we
spend now and we had very good races.” Briatore agreed with
Ecclestone: “With testing we spend money, when we are racing
we make money because our business is racing. The more you
test, the more you spend.”

3/5/04

Elliott in 91 in Vegas
Bill Elliott will make his first official Nextel Cup start
of the season Sunday at Las Vegas. Elliott, who ran the
non-points Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, will drive the No.
91 Dodge for Evernham Motorsports. The car is unique in that
the chassis was built in-house by engineers from Ray
Evernham's team and from Dodge Motorsports. The team hopes
to have its regular drivers Jeremy Mayfield and Kasey Kahne
in similar cars before the year's end. Elliott tested the
new car earlier this year at Las Vegas. "We were pretty
satisfied with how we came out," he said. "But we've got to
get a dialogue with it and really understand it. "You can
tell a difference between the Evernham chassis and what we
were running. There are some things that are similar, but
there's a lot that's different." Elliott hopes to make
several more Cup races in his first season of
semi-retirement, but so far there's no sponsorship in place
for his car. "We have a couple of things in the works, but
nothing is concrete yet," he said.

3/5/04

Key to the circuit handed over
in Bahrain
The finishing touches to the home of the Gulf Air Bahrain
Grand Prix reached a crucial stage today Friday, March 5th
when main construction contractor Cebarco officially handed
over the circuit keys to the US$150 million Bahrain
International Circuit organisation ahead of schedule.

At the ceremony, the Chairman and CEO of the construction
company Cebarco Mr Khalid M.A. Rahim presented Shaikh
Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa with a commemorative gold key
in recognition of the historic event.

Accepting the key on behalf of the circuit Shaikh Mohammed
said, "This is a momentous day for all of us involved in the
construction of the Bahrain International Circuit. The past
16 months since the ground breaking ceremony have seen the
realisation of a dream here in the desert at Sakhir. On
behalf of His Highness the Crown Prince Shaikh Salman Bin
Hamad Al Khalifa and everyone in Bahrain, I would like to
congratulate the whole team that has worked so tirelessly to
produce what is the most modern and technologically-advanced
motor racing circuit in the world."

During the course of the construction period up to 3,000
engineers, designers and workers have focused their efforts
on building the 5.441km track together with its impressive
complex of buildings and grandstands. The desert circuit is
unique in the world of Formula One and combines leading-edge
technology with fine examples of Arabic architecture and
iconic buildings such as the Sakhir Tower. In less than 30
days it will host the third round of the FIA Formula One
World Championship, the first time that a Formula One race
has been held in the Middle East. when main construction
contractor Cebarco officially handed over the circuit keys
to the US$150 million Bahrain International Circuit
organisation ahead of schedule.

During the course of the construction period up to 3,000
engineers, designers and workers have focused their efforts
on building the 5.441km track together with its impressive
complex of buildings and grandstands. The desert circuit is
unique in the world of Formula One and combines leading-edge
technology with fine examples of Arabic architecture and
iconic buildings such as the Sakhir Tower. In less than 30
days it will host the third round of the FIA Formula One
World Championship, the first time that a Formula One race
has been held in the Middle East.

3/5/04Drifting

Bridgestone driver wins
drifting race
Kei Office driver Yasuyuki Kazama picked up his first D1
Grand Prix victory on Feb. 28 during round one of the 2004
season, held in Irwindale, Calif. Sponsored at the event by
Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT),
Kazama won the 2004 D1 Grand Prix U.S.A. professional drift
event in a 414-horsepower Nissan Silvia equipped with
Bridgestone-brand Potenza® RE750 tires. This marks the
second season that BFNT has sponsored Kazama for the
Irwindale event. It is the only D1 event currently staged in
the United States, with all other 2004 events taking place
in Japan. The partnership with Kei Office will continue
throughout the 2004 season through a sponsorship agreement
between the team and Bridgestone Corporation in Japan.
Drifting is a highly skilled motorsport in which drivers
control a car using precise acceleration, steering and
braking while it slides from side to side at high speeds on
a closed, marked course. Participants are judged not only on
the speed through which they navigate the course, but also
on execution and style. Already a well-established
motorsport in Japan, it took the U.S. sport compact world by
storm at its debut at Irwindale Speedway in 2003. This
year’s event attracted an estimated 10,000 spectators. Round
two of the 2004 season will take place at Sugo Circuit in
Japan on May 4-5. The Bridgestone Potenza RE750, with UNI-T®
technology, is an ultra-high performance tire that has been
engineered to complement the style and complex systems of
today's finest performance cars. The Potenza RE750, with its
unidirectional tread pattern, delivers rapid response,
traction and outstanding wet and dry handling, taking
performance straight to the top.

3/5/04

Some interesting F1 engine
figures
This season’s engines are expected to be around 5-10% down
on power, but they’ll still be under colossal pressure.
Allianz calculates that they have to cope with an average of
2600 gear changes per race, as well as something like eight
million ignitions per cylinder. Piston speeds reach 40
meters per second, the exhaust temperatures get up to 950
degrees Celsius, and each connecting rod has to cope with
the equivalent of a three-ton load.

3/5/04

IRL is destroying the Indy
500 This
table
gives a complete history of the Indy 500 TV broadcasts since
the USAC days in 1973. In 1979 CART was born and the 500
enjoyed excellent ratings until Tony George created the IRL
in 1996. Since then it's been all downhill for the
once great America race. Such is progress......Tell us
one more time why we need the IRL? Costs have risen,
they are struggling to fill the 33-car field, just as many
foreign drivers are in the field, attendance is down and the
TV ratings are tanking. Contrary to what the IRL
propaganda machine would like us all to think, most long for
the good old "CART" days at the 500.

3/5/04

Toyota struggles on first day
Toyota's preparations for this weekend's Australian Grand
Prix in Melbourne were hampered by glitches with all three
of its cars during Friday's practice sessions. Brazilian
Cristiano da Matta finished 14th and 16th in the two
sessions, suffered a couple of spins and failed to finish
the second run thanks to a puncture in his rear-left tyre.
He said: “In the first hour, the track didn't have much grip
and we decided not to run much. In the second session, I
experienced some brake problems. Not the best start to the
weekend.” Meanwhile, fellow race driver Olivier Panis
struggled with the set-up of his car and was held up by
traffic during his quick laps on new tires, ending up 16th
and 18th. “I had a difficult first day in Australia,” he
said. “We were unable to complete many laps and I am not yet
happy with the set-up.” Third driver Ricardo Zonta did
manage to complete a back-to-back tire test for the team,
giving them a clear idea of which rubber to choose for
tomorrow's qualifying and Sunday's race, but even Zonta's
runs were not without their problems. Toyota technical
director Mike Gascoyne said: “Ricardo had a small electrical
problem, which limited his running. Both race drivers had
some little problems. Overall, the session panned out pretty
much as expected and we got some good data.”
Autosport

3/5/04

Centrix buys Denver race from
Dover MotorsportsUPDATE This Denver Post
article sheds a bit more light on this story.
Interestingly, the race almost died. 3/4/04
- CENTRIX Financial, LLC (CENTRIX), a financial management and
services firm, announced today that a wholly-owned
subsidiary intends to enter into an agreement to acquire
assets and rights to the Grand Prix of Denver from the Grand
Prix Association of Long Beach, Inc. (Grand Prix), a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Dover Motorsports, Inc. [NYSE:
DVD]. CENTRIX’s subsidiary is currently conducting a due
diligence process and will announce its final decision with
regard to the acquisition of rights no later than March 12,
2004. Financial terms were not disclosed. As part of these
discussions CENTRIX is also seeking to retain John Frew and
his staff to continue the management the Grand Prix of
Denver.

Open Wheel Racing Series, LLC (OWRS), owner of the Champ Car
World Series, has consented to the assignment of OWRS’
Sanction Agreement with Grand Prix to the CENTRIX
subsidiary. Subject to consent of the City of Denver, the
CENTRIX subsidiary will also accept all rights contained in
Grand Prix’s multiyear agreement with the City, which
entitles Grand Prix to stage an annual auto racing event in
and around Denver’s PepsiCenter. The CENTRIX subsidiary will
also be assigned the rights to Grand Prix’s agreement with
Kroenke Sports Enterprises, LLC (Kroenke), subject to
Kronke’s approval.

CENTRIX Financial Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
Robert E. Sutton said: “Last year we clearly stated
our commitment to the long-term presence and success of a
motorsports event in the heart of Denver. The process that
led to this point began the day after 2003’s event came to a
close. This is a positive step for the City of Denver.
This helps to ensure that both the City’s reputation and its
business community will continue to benefit from the
attention and economic gain such a high-caliber event
brings. I am pleased that we are in a position
to do this, and that this outstanding event will continue to
be part of our company’s broad range of motorsports
activities.”

OWRS Partner, Paul Gentilozzi said: “Obviously,
CENTRIX was an outstanding partner in making last year’s
event a success. We are very pleased that Bob and his team
will be playing an even greater role in the Grand Prix’s
future. I cannot think of a better development for the event
itself, the City of Denver, Champ Car and racing fans
everywhere.”

In addition to serving as title sponsor of the 2003 CENTRIX
Financial Grand Prix of Denver, CENTRIX sponsors the CENTRIX
Financial Ultimate Baja Challenge at the Tecate SCORE Baja
1000, sponsored multi-car Team CENTRIX in the 2002 and 2003
Baja 1000, sponsored Team USA Powered by CENTRIX Financial
at the 2003 Michelin Race of Champions Nations Cup and has
an agreement with Champ Car driver Michel Jourdain, Jr.

3/5/04

FIA rejects Leinders
Newly signed Minardi test driver Bas Leinders was forced to
watch from the sidelines while his team-mates Gianmaria
Bruni and Zsolt Baumgartner put their PS04s through its
paces at Albert Park on Friday morning. Although Minardi are
allowed to run a third car during Fridays practice sessions
at grand prix weekend's, Leinders was unable to take part
after his request for a super license was rejected by the
FIA. "Basically he didn't have the necessary mileage in
Championships that the FIA recognizes," a Minardi spokesman
told Reuters. Leinders will now return to Europe where he
will complete necessary 300 km of testing needed for his
super license.

3/5/04ETCC

Zanardi aims for title
Alex Zanardi is returning to racing full time this season in the
European Touring Car Championship (ETCC). In 2001, Zanardi lost both
legs in a horrific crash during a CART series race in Germany.
``I'm going to race the entire season,'' Zanardi said Thursday at the
presentation for the season. ``I'm not scared, I'm excited. I'm not
doing this for second place, I want to win.'' Zanardi will be
taking part in the series for BMW's Italian team in a specially
modified car that has its accelerator and clutch attached to the
steering wheel. The season begins March 28 in Monza and includes
10 races, nine of which are in Europe. The championship concludes in
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Oct 8.

3/5/04

Expert predicts F1 to have good TV year
The new Formula One season gets underway in Australia this weekend –
with one leading TV ratings expert predicting the sport is back on
track. After rule changes prior to last season, and a
championship which went to the wire, TV figures showed encouraging
signs of improvement in 2003. Now the new season – with races in
a number of new markets – seems set to see TV viewing figures soar
again. Jacques Braun, international director of Mediametrie, the
company which produces Eurodata TV Worldwide, the international
databank covering TV audiences across the world says, “Courtesy
of a new TV format and a number of new drivers coming through with the
ability to beat Michael Schumacher, Formula 1 has started to once
conquer its TV audience.”

With races in both Bahrain and China on the schedule for 2004, the new
markets are likely to offer considerable new commercial opportunities,
as well as increasing audience. Last year saw TV figures in
Italy, France, Finland and the UK all increase. Said team
principal Frank Williams: “The prospect of racing in China was
attractive in itself, but this newly announced partnership will
provide an extremely strong proposition for our sponsors who are
looking for conduits into this marketplace, and as such, is very
welcome." CCTV is the official domestic broadcaster of Formula
One to a population of 1.4 billion, with CCTV audience penetration
amounting to over 90 percent of households.

3/5/04

Trans-Am testing gets underway Testing
got underway for the 2004 Motorock Trans-Am Series at Carolina
Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC yesterday, as top series driver Randy
Ruhlman prepares to return for a full season in Trans-Am with the
front running Derhaag Motorsports team. The team spent two full days
testing in preparation for the April 18th Trans-Am season opener at
the Long Beach Grand Prix. Randy Ruhlman will return to the series
with the familiar #49 blue and white Chevrolet Corvette sponsored by
Cleveland based Preformed Line Products. Ruhlman finished sixth in the
series in 2003 with a podium at Trois Rivières. Derhaag Motorsports
has developed the reputation of putting together fast, reliable cars
that give their drivers every chance of winning. I saw that first hand
last year," said Ruhlman. "I am excited once again to be part of this
team and to be working with Jim and his crew in 2004. We are out here
to win races and be on the podium each and every race. The fact that
we have the same people working together again and that I have Mike
Dreith back as my crew chief, I believe is the winning combination in
Trans-Am this year. The car was great in testing here at Kershaw. We
made a lot of progress on shocks and springs and I am really pleased
with our development."

Williams BMW announced Chinese TV deal
The BMW WilliamsF1 Team today confirmed a major marketing and
promotional partnership agreement with the Shanghai International
Circuit (SIC) and the region's leading television network, CCTV ahead
of the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on September 26, 2004.
The partnership agreement includes on-car branding benefits for SIC &
CCTV which will be visible on the FW26 race cars from the start of the
2004 Formula One season, which commences this weekend in Australia.
This highly visible presence for SIC/CCTV with one of the leading
Formula One teams in the 2004 Championship will assist with the
promotion of the first ever Grand Prix on Chinese soil. Aside from
providing SIC & CCTV with a global medium to communicate and promote
the first race, the agreement also provides the BMW WilliamsF1 Team
with extensive promotional and media benefits and opportunities in the
region, which are regarded as invaluable to Western companies looking
to establish a toe-hold in such a key emerging market. The BMW
WilliamsF1 Team was the first Formula One team to visit China in an
official capacity following the formal confirmation of the Chinese
Grand Prix, and a delegation from SIC was received by Frank Williams
at the team's headquarters in summer 2003. The BMW WilliamsF1 Team
Principal, Frank Williams, commented, "The prospect of racing in China
was attractive in itself, but this newly announced partnership will
provide an extremely strong proposition for our sponsors who are
looking for conduits into this marketplace, and as such, is very
welcome." Mr Mao Xiaohan, President of the Shanghai International
Circuit Company confirmed this sentiment and reflected "This strategic
alliance between Shanghai International Circuit and the BMW WilliamsF1
Team is excellent for Shanghai and of course the whole of China too.
Bringing Formula One to Shanghai has opened the door for high profile
companies like the BMW WilliamsF1 Team and this will benefit us as
well as them." BMW Motorsport Director, Mario Theissen added "As a
global player the BMW Group welcomes the worldwide expansion of
Formula One. The Grand Prix of China will enable us to discover a new
market for Formula One. Currently the country probably hosts the
fastest growing economy of the world. BMW is very much looking forward
do demonstrating it's technology performance in Shanghai." The
construction of the 5.45km Shanghai circuit is well advanced, with
essential groundworks complete after 2million m3 of rock and substrata
moved to create the track's foundation. The 12,000 tonne steelwork
structure for the enormous main building is also well underway, and
when complete will provide extensive facilities including the press
centre and restaurants, control rooms etc. The top floor of this
building will have a completed floor area equivalent of four football
pitches. Six lane service roads to and from the track are complete and
the construction of distinctive lotus leaf shaped pavilion stands are
underway. CCTV are the official domestic broadcasters of Formula One
to a population of 1.4 billion, with CCTV audience penetration
amounting to over 90% of households.

3/5/04

Ferrari draws first blood in Melbourne
free practice
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s 2004 campaign got off to a positive
start this morning, with Michael Schumacher topping the time sheet at
the end of the first one hour of free practice. The German lapped
Albert Park in a time of 1.25.127. Rubens Barrichello was right behind
him in 1.25.361. The Scuderia pairing was considerably quicker (by
1.898 seconds) than third placed Jarno Trulli in the Renault
(1.27.025.) McLaren-Mercedes’ only representative in the top six was
David Coulthard with a time of 1.27.264. Fernando Alonso ensured that
Renault and Ferrari were the only teams to get both cars in the top
six with a time of 1.27.359. Rounding off the top six was the
BMW-Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya (1.27.462.) Schumacher and
Barrichello worked on car set-up and initial investigation of the
right tire choice. As expected, one result of the new one engine per
driver per weekend rule was that all drivers did far fewer laps than
in past years: Michael completed just four, while Rubens did 9. The
fact that this track is only used once a year means that even less
laps were completed as the surface is still 'green,' offering little
grip and covered with a layer of dust. It is quite possible that all
the drivers will do rather more laps in this afternoon’s second free
practice session which gets underway at 14h00. Another 1-hour session
follows.

NASCAR pouring it on to monopolize USA
motorsports With many of its Nextel Cup drivers
already household names, Adweek Magazine reports NASCAR has initiated
a $5-$10 million advertising campaign to make household names of its
Busch and Craftsman series drivers. The initial TV spots produced by
Charlotte agency Boone/Oakley aired in mid February. As the
recent Valvoline article asked, is the USA a NASCAR-only nation?
If not it may soon be.

3/4/04

Hornish bowls with the pros Two-time
IRL IndyCar® Series champion Sam Hornish Jr. rolled with a different
group of competitors on March 3. Hornish, who bowls regularly with his
friends in his hometown of Defiance, Ohio, participated in a Pro-Am
event held in conjunction with the PBA Uniroyal Tire Classic in
Indianapolis. "I like to think I'm better at racing than I am at
bowling," Hornish said. "I'm not giving up my day job. I don't think I
ever will." Hornish, who rolled games of 164, 171 and 203, said he got
into the game after meeting with professional bowler Mike Aulby nearly
three years ago. "Sam doesn't do anything just halfway," said Aulby,
an Indianapolis native who was an honorary starter for Indianapolis
500 practice last May. "He wants to be good at whatever he does, and
he's a real competitor. He's out there working at it. He takes
instruction real well, obviously. He's a good guy."

3/4/04

Toyota Atlantic Series set for premiere
The teams and drivers of the 2004 Toyota Atlantic Championship
Presented by Yokohama will convene for the first time next week as the
series is slated to participate in Champ Car "Season Premiere"
activities in Long Beach on Monday, followed by on-track testing on
Tuesday and Wednesday at Firebird International Raceway near Phoenix.
Media will get their first look at top contenders for the Toyota
Atlantic title during a media luncheon at the Westin Long Beach on
Monday at 12:15 p.m. Drivers scheduled to attend include 2003
championship runner-up Ryan Dalziel of Sierra Sierra Enterprises; 2002
Toyota Atlantic champion Jon Fogarty and his new Pacific Coast
Motorsports teammate Alex Figge of nearby Santa Barbara, Calif.; Team
Rahal drivers Danica Patrick and rookie Chris Festa; Transnet Racing
driver Alex Garcia; and Lynx Racing pilot Bryan Sellers. Toyota
Atlantic managing director Vicki O'Connor will also participate in the
luncheon. The Toyota Atlantic participants will then make the short
jaunt to Phoenix for a two-day test session on the 1.2-mile East
course at Firebird. The test will provide the first opportunity for
2004 Toyota Atlantic participants to measure themselves against their
competition as they begin to dial-in their cars in anticipation of the
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, which will kick off the 2004 Toyota
Atlantic season on the weekend of April 16-18.

3/4/04

Max Lagod to campaign 2004 T/A series Max
Lagod confirmed he has re-skinned the No. 83 Chevrolet Camaro he drove
in 2003 as a Chevrolet Corvette and plans to compete full time in this
year’s Motorock Trans-Am Series season. Lagod will move up from the
GT-1 ranks to run Trans-Am specs.

Lagod drove the same chassis part time last year under GT-1 rules.
Lagod’s best 2003 finish of third came at Cleveland. Lagod’s car will
continue to wear Hypermax Diesel Turbo Systems livery in 2004, but
will sport a new, bright-yellow paint scheme.

Lagod has competed in the Trans-Am Series for 11 years, and last raced
full time in 1997 and 1998. In all, Lagod has posted two podiums, six
top fives and 24 top-ten finishes in 66 career starts. “We
finally used up all of our old bodywork,” quipped Lagod, whose father
and crew chief, J.A. Lagod competed in Trans-Am from 1969-1972. “We’re
switching to the SB2 engines this year for reliability. We had some
bad luck last year. So, we are starting out fresh this season and are
looking for good results.”

Lagod has been a fixture in the Trans-Am paddock since his first start
in 1993 at Detroit. He has long been known as one of the few drivers
to select hard-compound tires as they suit his hard-driving style.
"I like to be able to go out there and run hard,” said Lagod. “I don’t
leave anything on the track.” And Lagod will continue the family
legacy this year: “I’ve always liked road racing, and Trans-Am is the
way to go,” concluded Lagod. The Motorock Trans-Am Series kicks
off its 2004 season April 16-18 at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
in California.

3/4/04

Gordon to announce
Indy/Charlotte double Robby Gordon is
scheduled to be Dave Despain's guest Monday on Wind Tunnel
(10 p.m. ET), where he will detail his plans to run both the
Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on May 30.

3/4/04

Dalziel focused on 2004 title
With the start of the 2004 Toyota Atlantic Championship a
little over a month away, last year’s runner-up, Scotland’s
Ryan Dalziel, is channeling all his energies into preparing
an all-out attack on the title with Sierra Sierra Racing.

Next week Dalziel and Sierra Sierra Racing commence their
pre-season test program following a brief shakedown of the
team’s chassis last month. Before Ryan gets behind the wheel
on Tuesday (9 March) he headlines the Toyota Atlantic driver
representation at the OWRS Media Day on Monday (8 March) at
the home of the series opener – Long Beach, California. The
21-year-old race ace will attend the Toyota Atlantic Media
Lunch at the Westin Long Beach Hotel before flying to
Firebird International Raceway for several days testing.

Commenting on the week ahead Dalziel enthused about his
return with Sierra Sierra Racing: “Our test at
Firebird will be our first productive outing of the year as
last time out it was really to shakedown the cars and blow
some of the cobwebs off. I’m looking forward to getting back
behind the wheel and working with the team to further
improve our set-up and performance. There are a couple of
new specifications we need to try and out and we’re now only
allowed two sets of tires per day so we really have to
extract the most from each session! It goes without
saying that we are looking to improve this season. Together
with everyone on the team I have no other goal other than to
win the 2004 Toyota Atlantic Championship. I believe we can
carry the momentum from the end of last season and start
this year well placed to fight for the title.”

3/4/04

Krauss moves to PK Racing
The likeable Kelby Krauss will be moving from CART's
Communications Department to the Communications Department
at PK Racing as that organization expands.

3/4/04

NASCAR IMAX film debuts The
new IMAX 3D film debuted in Hollywood last night. It's
officially called NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience.
Look for it in an IMAX near you starting March 12th.

3/4/04Industry News

Big brewery merger
I read this news item in the business section of the Courier
- Journal newspaper this morning. Interbrew (Belgium) and
AmBev (Brazil) announced a merger plan, to form the largest
brewing company based on volume, as reported by Alan
Glendenning of the Associated Press. The merger will also
make them the second largest brewer in gross dollars
generated, second to Anheuser-Busch. Interbrew markets 200
brands in 21 countries, and AmBev sells two-thirds of the
beer in Brazil's 2.1 billion gallon market, plus AmBev has a
newly expanded presence in the Caribbean. David Smith,
Louisville, KY. Dear David, We read that story two
days ago. It is pure speculation right now as to
whether this means anything at all for racing. Interbrew
owns Labatts, so it will be interesting to see if they
decide to use racing in a big way as part of their marketing
campaign. They are a big rival to Molson in Canada.
With Champ Car aligned closely with Molson it certainly
would create a great rivalry like Lowe's vs. Home Depot in
NASCAR, if Labatts entered the series in some capacity. You
also have South African Breweries who might come into Champ
Car if the race in Durban happens. Mark C.

3/4/04

Call me ignorant A
reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, I just read in your
latest news that the IRL ratings are off by 50% for
Homestead. Please explain to me the logic of
companies such as : Marlboro, Target, Honda, Toyota, etc.
What do they get from their investment in IRL racing?
I also read that Marlboro bought 20,000 tickets and
attendance was 32,000. These ratings on TV and at the
gate does not add up. If I recall correctly Mr. George
said about 2-3 years ago that the IRL was going to be bigger
than Formula 1 and NASCAR or maybe I'm just quoting Mr.
George about something he never said. Call me
"IGNORANT" but I would like to get to understand what
investors get back from the IRL. Marta Campos, Los
Angeles, California. Dear Marta, Our contacts
dispute that Marlboro gave away 20,000 tickets. As for
the low TV ratings, Tony George wanted his own series, now
he has it. As for the IRL being bigger than F1 and
NASCAR, yes Tony George did indeed say that. What can
we say, he is entitled to dream. As for what sponsors
get back from the IRL - they are there for one thing, and
one thing only - the Indy 500. Mark C.

3/4/04

Big crowd for opening day in Melbourne
A crowd of 51,385 for the first day of the 2004 FAGP weekend was the
best seen at Albert Park on day one since 1996 – the year the FIA
Formula One World Championship first came to Victoria. Also on
the bill was the opening of a new merchandise outlet, the first F1
Superstore, at the heart of the circuit. It was opened by F1
supremo Bernie Ecclestone. “Fantastic day, great crowd, great
racing - and a giant new Superstore as well!” said a very happy Steven
Wright, CEO of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation.

3/4/04

Superfund reinvests in Minardi
Minardi Cosworth is very pleased to announce that the distinctive
logo of valued commercial partner, Superfund, will once again be
displayed prominently on the team’s cars in 2004. This marks the
successful hedge fund management company’s third season of involvement
with Minardi, clearly demonstrating its continuing belief in, and
commitment to, the hard-trying Faenza squad.

Superfund’s bold “bull” will be even more visible on this season’s
Minardi Cosworth PS04B than previously. It appears on the bargeboards,
the leading edges of the sidepods and the engine cover, providing a
visual indication that the Austrian-based company has stepped up its
involvement with the team.

Sports sponsorship, and in particular, motor racing, continues to play
an important role in Superfund’s marketing strategy, having clearly
helped to establish the brand as a major player in the international
investment market.

“It is both heartening and a source of pride for the team that, once
again, one of its existing sponsors has elected to continue, and in
fact enhance, its relationship with Minardi Cosworth,” says Team
Principal, Paul Stoddart. “I sincerely want to thank Christian Baha,
and everyone at Superfund, for their loyalty and for this vote of
confidence in the team, at a time when we are trying hard to increase
our overall competitiveness in what remains a very challenging
commercial environment.”

Quadriga CEO, Christian Baha, comments, “Superfund’s involvement with
the Minardi Cosworth Formula One team represents the top level of a
‘pyramid’ of motor racing involvement for our company, as we will
again have a number of teams and drivers competing under the Superfund
banner in 2004. This is a very deliberate strategy on our part, as we
continue to feel strongly that motor racing reflects many of the
challenges of the world of investing. As such, it provides an
excellent way in which to promote the company and to generate
awareness of its products. It is fair to say that we are very pleased
with the results we have achieved in these areas over the last two
years.

“On a personal level, we are proud to continue our association with
Minardi, which is famous both for its fighting spirit and for its
ability to discover and nurture young talent. These are both worthy
attributes, and ones with which our company strongly identifies.
Superfund is therefore very pleased to confirm its continuing support
for the Minardi Cosworth team in 2004, and looks forward to a great
season of racing.” Minardi

A big mess in South Africa This
Grandprix.com
article says that any hopes there might once have been of a
government-funded Formula 1 race in South Africa have gone out of the
window with the news that the legislature of the Free State has
instructed its Public Accounts Committee to investigate into the loss
of public money at the Phakisa
Freeway Racing Circuit. Phakisa, located near the sleepy town
of Welkom, was built in 1998 at a cost of around $14m. It was seen as
a way to boost the tourist trade in the Goldfields area, which had
suffered badly from cutbacks in the gold mining industry. The facility
was designed with Formula 1 in mind and featured a 2.6-mile road
course inside a 1.5-mile oval. It had the capacity to cater for only
around 60,000 fans. The facility hosted a motorcycle Grand Prix in
1999 but each event cost more than it generated and the government
began asking questions last summer, when it was announced that Phakisa
had cost $72m but had raised only $7m. The organizers argued that most
of the money spent on construction had gone into local companies and
created jobs and that the racing had attracted 5000 foreign tourists
to the region each year. An independent survey showed that the event
injected $18m annually into the Free State economy. The organizers
argued that the government recouped $7.5m in taxes from the first
three events and that the notional value of exposure generated by the
race was worth around $75m. The losses at Phakisa may not be over yet
as the authorities are contracted to pay an additional $5.3m in
licensing fees to Dorna Sports, the promoter of the MotoGP
motorcycling series, for a race that is planned for next month. The
government has refused to pay and at the moment Dorna is planning to
run the event itself. This however will almost certainly be the last
South African Grand Prix. Phakisa's chief executive Bobby Hartslief
stepped down several weeks ago as the controversy intensified. He
recently spent several hours being grilled by the Public Accounts
Committee and resigned his position soon afterwards and returned to
his home in Colorado Springs in the United States, where he has been
living since 2000. Phakisa's defense is that the payments should have
been authorized by a board of management appointed by the state
government but no such body was ever appointed. The result of this is
that all costs were unauthorized. The collapse of Phakisa does not
come as a surprise to some in South Africa who warned about the scheme
back in 1997 before construction began. Judge Mervyn King, then the
chairman of the Automobile Association of South Africa, warned the
state government that the track would lose $60m if it went ahead. The
government thought otherwise and followed Hartslief's plan, paying to
build, maintain and promote the track but allowing income from TV
rights and from the gate to go to the promoters of the events.
Hartslief, who was paid $80,000 a year as part of the deal with the
Free State, told the committee that he did not believe that living in
Colorado Springs had any impact on the efficiency of the company. It
is not clear whether he will return to South Africa to answer further
questions. While recriminations may continue for months ahead, the
loss of taxpayers money is going to be a huge problem for the
credibility of the motorsport community in South Africa.

3/3/04

Bracks named honorary chairpersons 1999
Indianapolis 500 winner Kenny Brack and his wife, Anita, have been
named honorary chairpersons of this year's CARA Charities Indianapolis
500 Fashion Show on Friday, May 28, at the Indianapolis Westin Hotel.

Brack, 1998 Indy Racing League champion, is making an impressive
recovery from serious injuries suffered in a crash during the IndyCar
Series season finale last October at Texas Motor Speedway in a Team
Rahal entry.

During his recovery and rehabilitation, Brack also is enjoying
fatherhood. Anita Brack gave birth to the couple's first child, a
daughter named Karma, on Dec. 31.

"Anita and I are honored to be hosts for this year's Fashion Show,"
Brack said. "CARA has been very good to us, and we want to support
their task. CARA promotes the family aspect of auto racing as well as
raise funds for needy causes. That is something that is very important
to Anita and me.

"Racing is a family sport, and we are pleased to be a part of it."

One of the most popular social events surrounding the world's largest
auto racing event, the Indy 500 Fashion Show is named "Lights, Camera,
Traction!" and will celebrate its 23rd edition with many of the
Indianapolis 500 starting drivers and their families assisting in
raising funds for local and national children's charities.

The annual fashion affair, featuring fashions provided by The Secret
Ingredient, Day Furs and J.S. Marten Jewelers, will open with a social
hour at 11 a.m., followed by a noon luncheon. The fashion show is
scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

Tickets are now available, with individual tickets priced at $60 per
person. For more information on tickets, corporate tables or event
sponsorships, contact the CARA Charities headquarters at (317)
299-2277 or e-mail carachar@aol.com.

3/3/04

IRL TV rating off 50% for
Homestead Last
weekend's Homestead race came in with a 0.9 TV rating
(809,000 households) on ESPN, down 50% from last year's 1.8
rating on ABC. Outside of the Indy 500, the IRL's
first race of the year typically gets their highest rating.
However, a drop was expected because the race moved from
network TV to cable. What remains to be seen is
whether the IRL's ratings will continue to spiral downward
out of control for the remainder of the season or, after two
years of decline, make a turnaround.

3/3/04

Diaz confirms 2-car assault
2003 Motorock Trans-Am Series Rookie of the Year Jorge Diaz, Jr.
confirmed plans to compete in the 2004 Trans-Am Series as part of a
two-car effort with rookie teammate Felix Serralles. The Puerto Rican
driving duo will compete in Jaguar XKRs backed by Don Q Rum. Diaz will
drive the No. 8 car, while Serralles will wheel the No. 88 mount. Diaz
competed with a single-car team last year.

Diaz set the standard in 2003 for future rookies, finishing on the
podium twice—at Lime Rock and at Cleveland—and earning nine top-ten
and four top-five finishes in 11 starts. Diaz finished fourth in
points.

“We are going for the championship this year,” said Diaz. “We have a
two-car team and we’re hoping that will work in our favor. Last year,
we were gunning strictly for Rookie of the Year. We ran well-paced,
conservative races. This year, we’re going to risk a little bit more
and plan to be right there in the end.

“We’ve taken a lot of time to organize our team in the off season,”
added Diaz. “We have been working with suspension, braking and all of
the rest of the data to gain a greater edge.”

Serralles finished sixth in his Trans-Am debut, last season, at the
Puerto Rico Grand Prix finale. He is looking forward to his first full
Trans-Am season and is hungry for the Rookie of the Year title.

“I’m really looking forward to racing in Trans-Am with such a
high-quality team and a great teammate,” said Serralles. “I can’t wait
for season to start at Long Beach. Winning the Rookie of the Year
Championship would be really great this year. But I just hope to do
well and finish in the top ten in or even the top five in points.

“I love to drive,” added Serralles. “I believe in my team and I think
we’re going to do well.”

The team will be run out an Orlando, Fla. shop. Serralles’ car will
utilize a Huffaker chassis and engine. Diaz’s car is the former
Rocketsports Jaguar XKR driven by 2003 Drivers’ Champion Scott Pruett
to seven victories early last season. Diaz purchased that mount prior
to the final two races of the 2003 season.

3/3/04

Jim McGee returns to
Newman/Haas
Jim McGee, widely recognized as one of the most successful
team managers or chief mechanics in Champ or Indy car
history, has returned to Newman/Haas Racing (NHR) as the
director of special operations. McGee served as team manager
for NHR in 1993 and 1994 while Mario Andretti and Nigel
Mansell drove for the team and Mansell won the series
championship (1993).

"Motor racing is changing, and we need to make the best of
the new opportunities being presented to us," said Carl
Haas, co-owner of Newman/Haas Racing with Paul Newman. "Jim
McGee will add to our ability to maximize these
opportunities."

Most recently McGee served as general manager for Patrick
Racing since 1995. With 45 years of experience in the racing
industry, McGee has amassed the most victories by a
Manager/Chief Mechanic with 90. His record also includes
four Indianapolis 500 titles and nine series championships -
including one of NHR's four to date (Mansell '93).

"For me, this is like coming home," said McGee. "The years I
spent with Newman/Haas Racing were two of the best, most
enjoyable years I have had as a team manager in racing. We
had a lot of success and fun along the way. Carl Haas and
Paul Newman are probably the best car owners that I have
been associated with over all of my years in racing and many
of the people I respect and enjoy working with are at
Newman/Haas Racing. I feel that Carl has always been able to
pick the best drivers in the business and to me that was a
real factor in my decision. Bruno Junqueira and Sebastien
Bourdais are top caliber drivers and it's with great
pleasure that I'm returning to the team. I look forward to
many years of success here."

3/3/04

AMD extends Ferrari
relationship In 2003 Ferrari entered
the record books once again with its fifth consecutive
Constructor’s Championship, while legendary Ferrari driver
Michael Schumacher made history by winning his sixth
Driver’s World Championship. Ferrari looks to continue their
dominance in 2004 with expanded use of AMD products,
including solutions based on AMD64 technology.

"What we love about AMD is that they, like Ferrari, have a
passion for performance, an aggressive spirit of
competitiveness and a determined commitment to be the best,"
said six-time defending World Champion Michael Schumacher.
"AMD64 technology is a testament to those qualities, and
it's AMD64 technology that helps to give Ferrari its
competitive edge."

AMD64 technology improves performance for many applications
by evolving industry-standard technology from a 32- to a
64-bit architecture. 64-bit computing allows operating
systems and software to process more data and access a
tremendous amount of memory. AMD64 is an industry-standard
approach to 64-bit technology that combines innovation,
simplicity, and foresight to deliver the next generation of
performance today.

“Trust, hard work, innovation, reliability and a constant
desire to be the best are the key elements of a successful
Formula One team, and this perfectly mirrors our philosophy
at AMD,” said Henri Richard, senior vice president,
world-wide sales and marketing at AMD. “As the official
technology partner, AMD is pleased to supply the
high-performance computing solutions that help Ferrari win.
We look forward to working with Ferrari in making 2004
another record-breaking year."

The AMD logo will maintain its familiar place on the tail
fin of the Ferrari cars, as well as on the clothing of two
IT specialists, steering wheels, driver overalls, pit wall,
and within the telemetry computer area.

3/3/04

Budweiser extends Williams
relationship The BMW WilliamsF1 Team
today confirmed that after a successful debut season, team
sponsor Budweiser has extended its commercial relationship
for the forthcoming season, and the "Bud King of Beers"
identity will be more extensively visible on team assets.
The Budweiser identity will appear not only on the airbox of
the FW26, but also on the monocoque tops and on the driver
gloves of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher. Budweiser
joined the team sponsor community at the British Grand Prix
in July 2003. Tony Ponturo vice president, global media and
sports marketing, Anheuser- Busch, Inc., reflected, "Our
first season in Formula One has been a great experience, and
the BMW WilliamsF1 Team continues to be a valuable partner
for Budweiser. The brand's increased visibility on the cars
and driver's gloves will reach even more adult beer drinkers
this season through Formula One's worldwide viewing audience
of more than 350 million." Frank Williams, the BMW
WilliamsF1 Team Principal said, "I am truly delighted that
such a ubiquitous and global brand will be gracing the team
with an extended partnership agreement. The Budweiser brand
is consistent with some of the world's greatest sporting
events and teams, and it is a great privilege for the BMW
WilliamsF1 Team to carry its identity." Budweiser is also
making extensive use of its sponsorship with the
announcement of the 25 winners of the "True Racing"
promotion in March. Winners will be invited to contest a
simulator race off in the WilliamsF1 Conference Centre to
compete for 25 trips of a lifetime to international Grands
Prix in Australia, Malaysia, China, Japan, the US, Spain,
Italy, Monaco & the UK.

3/3/04

Champ Car Season Premiere to
feature Fan Fest
The fans of the Champ Car World Series that continue to
flock to the race course in record numbers will get their
first chance to see the cars and stars of the 2004 series at
next week’s Champ Car Season Premiere in Long Beach,
California.

The season premiere event begins on Monday, March 8 and will
feature two days of press conferences where teams, sponsors
and drivers will unveil their 2004 plans to the media. The
media may get first crack at the stars of the series, but
the two-day event will wrap up with a tribute to the Champ
Car fans.

“Our fans are always incredibly supportive of our series and
we want to give them a chance to get a little closer to our
teams and drivers,” said Champ Car President Dick Eidswick.
“We are also very excited about doing this in Long Beach,
where we will kick off the 2004 Champ Car season on April 18
with the 30th anniversary of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long
Beach, which has long been one of our marquee events.”

The fan gala will take place in the arena of the Long Beach
Convention Center from 5-8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 9. The
festivities will include a chance to meet and greet the
drivers of the series, along with a chance to see some of
the cars that will do battle along the 2004 campaign. Series
partners Bridgestone, Ford and Cosworth will be on hand with
displays as well, as will the Toyota Atlantic Championship
and Motorock Trans-Am Series.

“We're delighted that Champ Car chose Long Beach as the site
for its Season Premiere," said Jim Michaelian, president and
CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach. "This will
be a great opportunity for all our fans to get a close-up
look at many of the exciting things that Champ Car has to
offer in 2004.”
Giveaways and autograph sessions as well as interactive
displays will be available. Engineers from the teams and
manufacturers of the series will be on hand to educate the
fans while drivers will also participate in interview
sessions throughout the event. There will also be a pit stop
demonstration from 5:00-5:30 outside the arena where fans
can get a first-hand look at the action.

3/3/04

Bernie: More races (20),
less testing According to this week's
Autosport Magazine, Bernie Ecclestone has stepped up
the pressure for the series to adopt a 20-race calendar in
the next few years, despite some current resistance from
teams. Ecclestone’s plan requires intensive
talks this year to expand the calendar beyond the maximum 17
laid down in the Concorde Agreement (which governs F1) and
depends on reductions in testing.

“I hope we can have 20 races,” said Ecclestone. “If the
teams stop testing, which costs them money, and do more
races, which they get paid for, then there is no reason why
we cannot have 20.”

New events in Bahrain and China have been added to this
season’s 18-event calendar, while it is almost certain that
Turkey will host its first race next season, possibly at the
expense of the San Marino Grand Prix. Ecclestone
has made no secret of the fact that he wants India on the
calendar by 2007, while South Korea has already signed a
preliminary agreement for 2009.

The proposal has been given a cautious welcome by Renault F1
chairman Patrick Faure, who said: “We have a moderate
stance. It is better to do races than tests. “I would
prefer to run 20 races and 20 days of testing over 18 races
and 50 days of testing.”

3/3/04

Testing at Atlanta In
a day full of testing for the March 12-14 Golden Corral 500 weekend,
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup rookie #10-Scott Riggs led the speed chart Tuesday
at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Ten drivers from the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
Series tested Tuesday in preparation for the upcoming race weekend at
NASCAR ’s fastest track. Driving the #10-Valvoline Chevrolet, Riggs
was caught on the unofficial stopwatches at an average speed of
185.915 mph (29.82 seconds) around the 1.54-mile superspeedway. Just
behind Riggs on the speed chart was fellow Raybestos Rookie Of The
Year candidate #9-Kasey Kahne at 29.85 (185.728). Rounding out the top
five were #99-Jeff Burton and #22-Scott Wimmer, both clocking a lap of
29.91 seconds (185.356 mph), and #30-Johnny Sauter at 30.18 seconds
(183.698 mph). Most drivers said they used Tuesday’s test to get
comfortable with the new tire and spoiler rules. Testing is expected
to continue at AMS Wednesday. Test sessions are open to the media and
closed to the public.Unofficial Speeds:
Car#-Driver,Speed
#10-Scott Riggs, 185.915
#9-Kasey Kahne, 185.728
#99-Jeff Burton, 185.356
#22-Scott Wimmer, 185.356
#30-Johnny Sauter, 183.698
#01-Joe Nemechek, 182.368
#23-Dave Blaney, 182.910
#77-Brendan Gaughan, 181.473
#40-Sterling Marlin, 180.351
#5-Terry Labonte, 179.012. AMS PR

3/3/04

McLaren ready for new season
As the FIA Formula One World Championship gears up for another
exciting season, which will see revised technical and sporting
regulations and inaugural events in Bahrain and China, the West
McLaren Mercedes team arrives in Melbourne for the first race of the
year, the 2004 Australian Grand Prix. The event marks the start
of David Coulthard's ninth and Kimi Raikkonen's third seasons with the
team, the 150th Grand Prix of the McLaren and Mercedes-Benz
relationship, which is entering its tenth season, and sees the race
debut of the new West McLaren Mercedes MP4-19 car. More.....

3/3/04

Seen at Homestead - III Seen
at the IRL Homestead race Sunday morning dining in the Marlboro
hospitality area were the leaders of The Oval Track Cartel
Roger Penske, Bill France Jr., Jim France and Tony George. We
would venture to say the conversations centered around the cartel's
next strategic moves.

3/3/04

Off-track
activities in Melbourne for Jordan Giorgio
Pantano's first media duty at a grand prix brought out the animal in
him, when he visited Melbourne Zoo on Monday. It was an all-Italian
affair as the Jordan rookie teamed up with Minardi new-boy, Gianmaria
Bruni for a photocall. Stroking Koala Bears and feeding Kangaroos was
the order of the day, as Pantano adapted to the sometimes strange
demands made on a Formula 1 driver's time. (Nick Heidfeld with Giorgio
Pantano and members of the Melbourne Giants basketball team. Photo by
Jordan Grand Prix.)

Appointment number two for Pantano involved teaming up with Nick
Heidfeld for a spot of basketball. The two Jordan men were the guests
of top local team, the Melbourne Liberty Giants and indulged in a spot
of hoop play. It was not exactly an even contest as the two
appropriately named Giants were 7 foot and 6 foot nine tall
respectively, giving them a slight advantage over the two Jordan boys
who both stand up at 5 foot 5.

Nick actually turned out to be something of a natural at the game,
admitting that he actually likes it and has played in the past. He
caught out the opposition a few times by scuttling between their legs,
but he didn't turn down the offer of help when one of the Giants
lifted him off the ground to improve his slam dunking technique. They
also brought out a ladder to make life easier for Giorgio.

Third driver Timo Glock joined the two race drivers for a pre-GP beach
trip when they visited the global headquarters of new team partner,
Quiksilver. Located in Torquay, about a hundred kilometers south of
Melbourne, the company is based at the start of on the scenic Great
Ocean Road, near Bells Beach, the birthplace of surfing back in the
Fifties.

All three drivers were given some rudimentary instruction from an
archetypal surfing dude, before paddling out to catch a few waves. Not
surprisingly, considering their talent at the wheel, they all proved
to have a great sense of balance. "I really enjoyed myself," said
Heidfeld. "It was my first time surfing, but it definitely won't be my
last." He obviously meant it, as he "accidently" forgot to give his
wetsuit back at the end of the day!

3/3/04

SunTrust returns as race sponsor SunTrust
returns as sponsor of Richmond race: SunTrust will return as title
sponsor of the IndyCar Series' visit to Richmond International
Raceway.

"Each year, the IRL IndyCar Series and the SunTrust Indy Challenge
continue to grow," said Doug Fritz, president of Richmond
International Raceway. "For the fourth consecutive year, we are proud
to have SunTrust sponsor the race and we look forward to another
exciting, first class event."

SunTrust has served as sponsor of the June night race since its
inception in 2001. The race is the only IndyCar Series event held on a
track that is less than 1-mile in length. The fourth SunTrust Indy
Challenge will be held June 26.

"SunTrust Mid-Atlantic is committed to supporting the communities and
the public we serve through the sponsorship of entertainment,
educational and cultural events," said Michael Newbrand, Director of
Marketing for SunTrust Mid-Atlantic. "We are pleased that we are able
to partner with Richmond International Raceway to bring Indy racing to
the Mid-Atlantic region with the SunTrust Indy Challenge. With our
renewal for a fourth consecutive SunTrust Indy Challenge in 2004,
SunTrust looks forward to providing our customers and all fans the
best experience yet."

3/3/04

Montoya: Reliability key to
championship Speaking just days before the start
of the 2004 season, the Williams driver has predicted a strong showing
from rivals Ferrari due to their superb reliability record – the
Prancing Horse have not had an engine failure since Indy 2001.

He told Reuters: "I think that Ferrari are going to be strong again,
like every year. Their reliability has always been very impressive,
especially Michael's car, and I think that they will be as reliable as
us. Our car is a big step forward from last year," he added. "I
think that if they are quicker than us in the first race it doesn't
mean they are going to win the Championship. I think if we win the
first race it doesn't mean that's it. It's a long season, we
have two more races than before and consistency in scoring points is
going to be one of the keys." But Montoya was philosophical when
speaking about his championship challenge last year when he finished
third behind Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen. He said:
"When it's your time, it's your time and it wasn't meant to be.”

3/3/04

Minardi announces Wilux as primary
sponsor
Minardi Cosworth is today delighted to confirm that Wilux Benelux has
become title sponsor, with the Faenza-based team to be known
officially as Wilux Minardi Cosworth during the 2004 Formula One
season. Wilux manufactures shower cubicles and baths for the medium-
and top-class segments of the market, and is headquartered in the
Netherlands, with design facilities in Italy. Photos

The company first tasted the benefits of involvement with Formula One
last season as a commercial partner of Minardi. An increase in Wilux
sales of 40 per cent in 2003, however, and a measurable improvement in
brand recognition registered during the same period, prompted Wilux
Managing Director, Ruud Wildschut, to shift up a gear in terms of his
company’s F1 involvement for 2004.

“Sponsorship activities are nothing new for Wilux, as the company has
been involved with motorcycle racing and Dutch Premier League football
in recent years,” observes Mr Wildschut. “Significantly, however, last
year’s co-operation with Minardi marked the first occasion that our
company had been involved at the highest level of sports sponsorship –
Formula One – and the results have been truly amazing. It is
impossible to ignore the increased sales of Wilux products during the
relatively short time we have been involved with Minardi, or the huge
levels of goodwill that have very clearly been generated with our
customers as a direct result of this sponsorship.

“Therefore, this increase in our commercial co-operation is a further
logical step in the development of our relationship with Minardi.
Having observed the team members at work first-hand, I can confirm
that we believe 100 per cent in their capabilities and potential, and
are pleased to continue to support them in their efforts.”

3/3/04

Another CART Champ Car driver to F1,
Monteiro signs with Minardi
Yet another CART Champ Car driver has made it to F1. The
Minardi Cosworth Team is today pleased to announce it has signed Tiago
Monteiro as an official test driver for the 2004 season. As such, the
27-year-old, from Portugal, will assist the team with its test and
development program in the course of the year, “dovetailing” these
commitments with a full season competing in the Super Fund World
Series, where he will be driving for the highly regarded Carlin
Motorsport organization. He will not take part in Friday test sessions
during Formula One weekends.
Photos

Monteiro has certainly not trodden an “accepted” route to the top
levels of motor racing, having started his career in 1997, in the
French Porsche Carrera Cup, after being inspired by his father,
who was
also a competitor in the series. Since then, Monteiro has raced
successfully in a wide variety of categories, including the French F3
Championship, French GT Championship, Andros Trophy (ice racing), and
FIA International F3000 Championship, while also competing in a number
of significant one-off events, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Macau
Grand Prix, Korea Super Prix and Marlboro Masters. In 2003, he joined
Fittipaldi Dingman Racing for a season in the hard-fought Champ Car
World Series, once again proving himself to be both versatile and
highly competitive, having achieving a Pole Position in Mexico City
and having leading the St. Petersburg and Mid-Ohio races.

“We're very pleased to have signed Tiago as a test driver,” says
Minardi Cosworth Team Principal, Paul Stoddart. “It is precisely
because of his extensive motor racing experience, and his obvious
adaptability to widely differing types of machinery, that we felt he
could be of real assistance to us in developing the Minardi Cosworth
PS04B this year. The new car has shown distinct promise in pre-season
testing, but we are very aware that nothing in F1 stands still – we
need to have a solid test program in place in order to work on
steadily improving the new chassis. We believe that Tiago, and fellow
tester, Bas Leinders, will be able to help us achieve our goals in
this area.”

“I am truly pleased for having been chosen as an Official F1 Test
Driver for Minardi, which will give me the opportunity to participate
in the development of the new car. I will certainly take the most out
of this opportunity, evolving the car and, as a driver being a close
observer of Formula 1 cutting edge technology, during the 2004 season.
I consider this occasion to be of paramount importance for me and for
Portugal, which has once again a foot in the F1 world”, explained
Tiago Monteiro. “Along with the F1, being able to participate in the
World Series by Nissan, in such a renowned Team as Carlin, is a great
honor for me. I have the opportunity to come back to Europe and join a
Team that will be fighting for a top spot. I want to thank Paul
Stoddart (Minardi) and Trevor Carlin (Carlin Motorsport) for this
opportunity, and also my partners Santogal, Brose, Iberotel, Cheers,
Brisa and Elf for their support.”

'My little sister can do it' Arie
Luyendyk Jr. didn't say exactly that but he might as well have
according to his following quote to the Miami Herald "...it's way easy
to go flat out now" when asked about the new banking at Homestead.
[Editor's Note: Way easy to go flat? We have
criticized the IRL for easy flat cars in the past. If they are
now "way easy" flat they should pull the plug on the Infiniti Pro
Series now. The series lacks many cars and if it does not
challenge the drivers like a development series is supposed to, and
teach them how to be better drivers, pull the plug and put it out of
its misery. Is the oval track cartel's idea of racing a
sport, or a PT Barnum circus "show?" Racing is supposed to be a
sport where the skill of the athlete, you know, the driver (remember
him?), shines through. The day, which may already be upon us in
America, that the show is all that matters, is the day racing ceases
to exist as a sport. Perhaps the event reports (can't call them
"race" reports anymore), should appear in the business section right
alongside sponsor and stock news. Thank heaven OWRS saved Champ
Car Racing and its support series ladder structure, for it represents
the only open wheel racing series in America that is still a sport,
where driver talent is a very important part of the winning equation.]
Mark C.

3/2/04

Chevy to sponsor Petit LeMansRoad Atlanta and the American Le Mans Series (ALMS)
announced today that Chevrolet Motor Division, with the support of the
Atlanta-area Chevrolet Dealers, has signed a multi-year agreement to
become the title sponsor of Petit Le Mans, the famous 1,000-mile
endurance racing event. The title sponsored event, “Chevy presents
Petit Le Mans,” is a long-distance ALMS sports car race held annually
at Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA. For 2004, “Chevy presents Petit Le
Mans” will run on an earlier date, Saturday, September 25.

The new agreement with Road Atlanta extends Chevrolet’s exclusive
Official Car status and adds Official Truck as well as title sponsor
rights for “Chevy presents Petit Le Mans.” Chevrolet’s sponsorship of
Road Atlanta will be visible to ALMS fans through signage, interactive
display properties, Pace Cars and safety vehicles as well as
significant consumer promotions in the Atlanta market through the
Atlanta-area Chevy Dealers. Current plans include for Chevrolet to
pace the famous event with the all new 2004 SSR which is prominently
featured in the new American Revolution advertising campaign.

“Chevrolet’s sponsorship of Road Atlanta is a logical extension of our
motorsports marketing strategy and will provide an opportunity for the
Atlanta-area Chevy Dealers to better leverage Corvette Racing’s
on-track success towards the sale of new Chevrolet cars and trucks,”
said Gary Claudio, group marketing manager for GM Racing. “Chevrolet
and GM Racing look to build mutually beneficial relationships with
world class events and facilities that allow us and the Chevy dealers
to provide unique and exciting experiences for Chevy owners and our
target customers. Based on the past success of this relationship, we
are confident that Road Atlanta will continue to deliver positive
results for Chevrolet.”

In addition to its sponsorship of Road Atlanta, Chevrolet and GM
Racing field the two-car Compuware Corvette C5-R team which has won
the GTS class Manufacturers’ and Team championships in the ALMS for
the past three seasons and two straight Drivers’ titles.

"We are delighted that Chevrolet has expanded its relationship with
Road Atlanta and become the title sponsor of our premiere event,” said
Mike Swaine, president and general manager of Road Atlanta. “Chevy
presents Petit Le Mans occupies a special place on the international
motorsports calendar, and with the support of Chevrolet and the
Atlanta-area Chevy Dealers, the event will only become more important
and exciting for the ALMS and our fans.”

3/2/04

New Champ Car TV partners to be
announced March 9th At
a 2:30 PM PST press conference in Long Beach on March 9th, OWRS will
announce their new TV partners for 2004, rumored to be SPIKE TV and HD
Net.

3/2/04

Papis
and Magnussen fined Grand
American Road Racing Association has fined Rolex Sports Car Series
Daytona Prototype drivers Max Papis and Jan Magnussen $5,100 each for
"unacceptable driving tactics" following a review of the final stages
of last Saturday's Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In
addition to the fines, each driver will also be required this year to
spend a day of community service at one of the U.S.-based Hole in the
Wall Camps, the world's only network of camps for children with
life-threatening illnesses founded by actor and racer Paul Newman in
1988. The $10,200 in total driver fines will be paid directly to Camp
Boggy Creek, Newman's Florida camp, to fund six campers for the 2004
summer sessions. Battling for the lead with less than 10 laps to go in
Miami, Papis, driving the CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing No. 01 Lexus
Riley XI, and Magnussen, behind the wheel of the Doran-Lista Racing
No. 27 Lexus Doran JE4, made repeated contact for nearly an entire lap
around the 2.3-mile road course. The door-to-door banging ended with
both drivers spinning off course in turn one just after completing lap
101 of the 109 lap race. Magnussen was eliminated on the spot while
Papis nursed his damaged Daytona Prototype to a seventh-place finish.
The race was won by Andy Wallace and Milka Duno, who co-drove the No.
2 CITGO Pontiac Crawford to the first Rolex Sports Car Series win for
Howard-Boss Motorsports. Papis and Magnussen met with Grand American
officials immediately following the race and were advised then of the
pending review and penalties.

3/2/04Industry News

California Speedway to get
SAFER Barrier
California Speedway is joining the list of motorsports
facilities adding the SAFER walls to its safety features.
Speedway president Bill Miller announced Monday that
installation of the barriers will begin in early April,
following the AMA Yamaha Superbike Challenge. The process is
expected to be completed in time for the 2-mile oval's first
NASCAR weekend April 30-May 2. "We all know that safety is
paramount in our sport," Miller said in a press release,
"and this is another positive step going forward. We applaud
all those involved in constructing this system and its
installation at California Speedway." The speedway will have
three sets of barriers installed. One will start at the
entrance to Turn 1 and continue through the exit of Turn 2
on the outer wall of the track. The second, also on the
outer wall, will extend from the entrance of Turn 3 through
the exit of Turn 4. The third set will be on the inside
retaining wall from the exit of Turn 2 to a point
approximately two-thirds the length of the back
straightaway.

3/2/04

Best drivers not in F1
This The Australian
article says, Rising star Fernando Alonso yesterday
exploded the belief that Formula One has the best drivers in
the world, saying he came across better racers in go-karts.
The Spaniard, who ignited interest in F1 in his homeland
with a brilliant season with the fast-improving Renault team
last year, said making it to the top level had more to do
with luck than skill.

"I raced in go-karts with maybe 15 to 20 better drivers than
we have now in Formula One, and they are not here (in F1)
because they didn't have the luck," Alonso said in
Melbourne, where he is preparing for Sunday's grand prix.

The 22-year-old is rated alongside McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen,
Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya, NSW's Mark Webber and Briton
Jenson Button as F1's new generation. They are
expected to fill the void when Michael Schumacher does
retire. "I don't think we are the best drivers
of the new generation," Alonso said. "The best drivers
of the new generation are not in Formula One because they
did not have the luck." What he means by luck is money
and sponsorship.

3/2/04

Paul Tracy wins Racer
Magazine's Racer-of-Year award Forsythe
Racing’s Paul Tracy put together one of the best seasons in
Champ Car World Series history in 2003 on his way to winning
his first Champ Car title, cementing his status as one of
the top drivers in all of auto racing.

The readership of RACER magazine, as well of its Internet
news arm www.speedtv.com, agreed that Tracy’s 2003 season
was one to remember as they voted the Canadian Champ Car
driver as the Racer of the Year.

Tracy, who won seven races, six poles and 10 podiums on his
way to the 2003 title, was named the top driver of the year
over such racing luminaries as Formula One World Champion
Michael Schumacher, NASCAR title winner Matt Kenseth and
USAC record-setter J.J. Yeley.

“This is a very nice accolade, especially because of the
company of drivers included in the voting,” Tracy said.
“When you are on a list with Michael Schumacher who just won
his sixth F1 championship and some of the other great
drivers in the world, and the fans consider you to have had
a better year than he did, that’s quite an honor.”

The award was one of many for the 2003 Champ Car World
Series title winner, as Tracy also received first-team All
American status in the voting by the American Auto Racing
Writers and Broadcasters Association. He was the only
finalist other than eventual winner Ryan Newman to receive
more than one vote for the Driver of the Year Award
presented by SPEED Channel and was also voted as the
WorldCom Most Popular Driver for the second consecutive
season.

“Paul certainly deserves every honor awarded to him after
his great 2003 Champ Car season,” said Champ Car President
Dick Eidswick. “Not only is the RACER magazine award a great
tribute to Paul, it is a tribute to the level of competition
in the Champ Car World Series as well as to what it takes to
be a champion in our series.”

The nominees for the RACER awards were developed through
suggestions of the magazine’s editorial staff along with
other racing insiders. The nominees in a number of
categories were then voted upon by racing fans either
through RACER or via the speedtv.com website.

3/2/04

Concern over Champ Car TV A
reader writes, Dear Autoracing1.com, I am hearing rumors that
Champ Car races will not be on CBS next year and that all
the races will be on Spike TV. I have even heard HD
Net mentioned. This doesn't give me much hope for the
series survival. Is this true? Joseph
Daniels, Irvine, CA. Dear Joseph, We received many
letters on this topic. Champ Car got decent ratings on
CBS last year. With the IRL having a lock on ABC and
NASCAR a lock on NBC and Fox, CBS is the last hope for Champ
Car to align themselves with a major network broadcaster
that delivers reasonable ratings. If they don't lock
them in now, someone else will and the door will be shut for
a very long time. Last year CART announced a deal with
CBS for 2004 that would see some of the races live, 6 to 8
if we recall. If OWRS decided to go with a cable
channel exclusively, while it might be good for hardcore
fans to see more hours and races in a consistent time slot,
unfortunately it won't deliver the TV ratings that CBS
delivers. Hence, the IRL and NASCAR will continue to
steal sponsors away from Champ Car by presenting them with a
better TV package. In advertising, ratings generally
rule, and most advertisers are counting eyeballs. In a
year when OWRS is looking to rebuild the series, the last
thing it needs is falling TV ratings. If that happens,
they will have nothing to springboard into 2005 because
sponsorship is the lifeblood of racing. As for HD Net
- novel idea whose time has not yet come. Their
ratings will be below 10,000 per broadcast and would drive
the final nail in Champ Car's coffin. If they want to
offer HD Net in addition to CBS or Spike, that's another
story. We wrote numerous times last year that Champ
Car must increase their presence on CBS because they were
paying far less per eyeball on CBS than on SPEED. CBS
is the better investment in the future. With all this
said, we are not privy to the final TV schedule so all this
speculation may be for naught. Hopefully we will be
pleasantly surprised. Mark C.

3/2/04

Jeff Gordon on Late Late Show Jeff
Gordon, four-time NASCAR Series champion and driver of the
No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, is scheduled to appear on CBS' "The
Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn" this Wednesday, March 3.
The "Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn" is in its fifth full
season and airs on CBS at 12:37 a.m. ET/PT, immediately
following the "Late Show with David Letterman."

3/2/04

Elliott to return to actionHow do you prepare for races when you aren't running
every week?
"I don't feel like I've missed much yet. It's only been two
races. We tested in Las Vegas in late January and we were
pretty good out there. We are ready to go for Las Vegas."How much difference can you tell about the car with
the new chassis?
"We ran the new Evernham chassis when we tested at Las Vegas
and I liked it pretty well. We were pretty satisfied with
how we came out. But, we've got to get a dialogue with it
and really understand it. You can tell a difference between
the Evernham chassis and what we were running. There are
some things that are similar, but there's a lot that's
different. We'll just take it one step at a time."How is the sponsorship search going?
"We have a couple of things in the works, but nothing is
concrete yet."How is it going in your new role as the coach and
mentor for Kasey Kahne?
"Kasey has done pretty well on his own so far. He's got a
lot of experience on his own. I can't tell him how every
single track is going to change or how he needs to run every
race, but there are some tracks where I can help him more
than others. Like at Sonoma, I think I can really help him.
Watching him run up front at Rockingham made me feel like a
proud parent. When I saw him get up there and stay up there,
I knew I had made the right decision. It was the right
decision for me, for the team and gave him an opportunity. I
knew then I had done the right thing."

3/2/04

Earnhardt Jr. in people
magazine
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet,
is the subject of a feature story in the March 8 issue of
People Magazine. Dale Jr. won his first Daytona 500 two
weeks ago and is currently leading the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
point standings. In the story, Dale Jr. discusses maturity,
the dating scene, and of course, winning the Daytona 500.

3/2/04

A lap around Albert Park with Button
BAR's Jenson Button drives a lap of Melbourne's Albert Park.
"The Melbourne Grand Prix really is a great race to start the season
with, I can't think of a better way. The circuit, however, is not one
of the quickest and features a lot of short straights and very tight
chicanes. We run a lot of downforce and pull a lot of Gs at various
points on the track. More...

3/2/04

New sponsor for McLaren
West McLaren Mercedes to paint the town silver and black with
Eisenmann. The German company Eisenmann, one of the world's
leading suppliers for surface finishing systems, material flow
automation, environmental technology, and ceramics firing technology,
has signed a long-term agreement to become Official Supplier to the
West McLaren Mercedes Formula One team and the McLaren Technology
Centre.

The Partnership will see Eisenmann supply the complete Paint
Technology System, which will be used to paint the West McLaren
Mercedes Formula One cars, at the McLaren Technology Centre, the new
corporate and production headquarters of the McLaren Group. The key
elements of the paint facility will be three combined Paint, Spray and
Drying booths.

The carbon-fiber surfaces of the chassis and body components of the
Formula One cars will be pre-treated in two preparation booths which
are equipped with a special dust extraction system. The high-quality
painting process is based on a three-layer concept consisting of
Primer, Top Coat and Clear Coat.

The combined paint, spray and drying booths are provided with gas
fired air conditioning units and will accommodate the air supply for
the spraying process as well as the re-circulation mode for the 80°C
curing process. Full glass panel folding doors will provide spacious
access to the booths and satisfy the aesthetic design approach of the
McLaren Technology Centre. The Formula One team will begin to benefit
from the advanced system in the McLaren Technology Centre at the end
of May 2004, when production will begin in the new Paint Shop.

"We are proud to announce our Partnership with Eisenmann, who, as
Official Supplier, will contribute to the constant demands of Formula
One to reduce lead-times, whilst increasing efficiency and quality,"
commented Ron Dennis, Chairman and CEO of the McLaren Group.

"With the Group's move into the McLaren Technology Centre, and more
specifically with the development of our new state-of-the art painting
facilities for the West McLaren Mercedes cars, we need to have strong,
dedicated partners whose philosophy of excellence and attention to
detail reflects our own. In Eisenmann we have this."McLaren

3/2/04

New sponsor for Williams
In the week prior to the start of the 2004 FIA Formula One World
Championship, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team today announced a groundbreaking
new commercial partnership with Hamleys - "The finest toys in the
world."

The commercial alliance, signed today at Hamleys' flagship store in
Regent Street, London, marks a major initiative by the world's finest
toy brand to internationalize its operation.

Hamleys, a private company since 2003 following a successful
management buy- out supported by the Icelandic retail investment
company, Baugur, has ambitious plans to take its famous brand into
markets across the US, Europe and Asia in a series of commercial
partnerships with high quality retailers, concentrating on the unique
range of Hamleys own brand toys and gifts.

Baugur's Chief Executive, Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson said, "Hamleys is the
most famous toy store in the world. I am delighted to be able to
support the company's management to maximise the strength of this
brand, in particular by supporting their international expansion
plans. A key part of our plans for Hamleys is to take the Hamleys
experience to the four corners of the world."

"The global dimension to Formula One, and in particular the BMW
WilliamsF1 Team relationship provides a strong platform on which to
build our international expansion. The agreement also provides an
important opportunity to build Hamleys range of own brand toys and
gifts," he concluded.

The sponsorship partnership is unique insofar as it offers traditional
benefits as well as a licensing agreement, providing Hamleys with an
extensive opportunity to develop ranges of own-brand Formula One toys.

Frank Williams, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team Principal said, "I am
delighted that we have been able to offer a relevant sponsorship
opportunity to such a prestigious brand, and I hope our partnership
makes a valuable contribution to Hamleys' ambitious retail strategy."

Hamleys ubiquitous brand identity will be visible on the WilliamsF1
BMW FW26s of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher to be raced
throughout the 2004 season, commencing this weekend at the Australian
Grand Prix in Melbourne. Williams

3/2/04

The next generation Champ Car:
Heading for a train wreck? A
reader writes, Dear Autoracing1.com, Loved Mark's new article about the
Champ Car train wreck. Now I understand why Champ Cars look so
boring to watch compared to F1 cars. I love watching the F1
drivers saw like hell at the wheel compared to a Champ Car driver.
It's why I subscribe to AutoRacing1.com you guys tell it like it is.
Keep on hitting 'em over the head. Sander Lewis, Brooklyn, NY

He said, she said Penske
teammates Helio Castroneves and Sam Hornish Jr. either have no clue
what setup the other was running on Sunday in Homestead, or there is
clearly a language barrier. So who REALLY was running the lower
down force setup guys? Post-race quotes

Castroneves: I knew he
had a little bit less downforce than me. Yesterday in
qualifying, we tried low downforce. This morning, we tried low
downforce. We kept having a little trouble. I said, "You know what,
let's go on the conservative side. Let's try not to take a
chance, especially the first race of the season." [Note Helio spun
with the low downforce setup Sunday AM and went back to his higher
down force setting]. So I knew I was a sitting duck. When I was
leading the last five laps, it was just a matter of time. I would try
to move a little bit high, try to take his air in front of his car,
but it seems his car was really solid.

Hornish: Sometimes there's
not a point to lead. I mean, there's no benefit of it. You know, there
were three or four guys that were capable of leading that were running
a little bit faster, and we had a little bit more downforce
on the car so we could stay in behind them. I don't think we could run
quite as fast when we were out front, so there was no point in doing
it. I knew if I could stay right in behind somebody, we could
sometimes slip away from the rest of the pack. And I knew we probably
wouldn't be able to do that if I was out front. Sometimes
you make compromises. And we compromised a little bit more speed so we
could have a handling car that we could run down bottom or up top or
run right on somebody's gearbox.

3/1/04

Kelly Collins joins Sebring lineup
Two-thirds of the winning GT class driving team from the
inaugural race of the American Le Mans Series in 1999 will reunite and
join with a young rising star of road racing for the 52nd annual Mobil
1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Mar. 17-20 at Sebring (Fla.) International
Raceway.

Veteran driver Kelly Collins of Corona del Mar, Calif., has been named
to join Cort Wagner of Pacific Palisades, Calif., and Patrick Long of
Oak Park, Calif., in the lead Porsche 911 GT3 RSR for The Racer's
Group/New Century Mortgage team in the opening event of the 2004
American Le Mans series season.

Collins, who was a driver for the factory Corvette team in the ALMS
the past four seasons, joins season-long teammates Wagner and Long to
form an All-California driving squad. Collins and Wagner drove
together at Sebring in 1999, taking GT class honors in the first race
for the newly-formed ALMS, and Collins tutored both Wagner and Long
during his days as a racing school instructor.

3/1/04

Who is racing's wealthiest?UPDATE Here is an updated racing
billionaires list, their ranking in the world, and our notes:

2/27/04 - The list of the billionaires of the world was released yesterday.
A few racing figures made the list.

Bernie Ecclestone: $3.5 Billion
France Family (collectively): $2.4 Billion
Roger Penske: Not there
Gerald Forsythe: Not there
Kevin Kalkhoven: Not there
It is interesting that CART managed to chase away the wealthiest
person they have ever had in their business. Bruce McCaw is worth a
paltry $1.0 billion. His wealth has dwindled seriously over the past
few years as well. Dietrich Mateschitz is there, but we are not
sure if that counts, as his involvement in the sport seems to be at
arms length right now in the premium areas of the sport, and his
driver search thing seems to draw a lot of criticism.

3/1/04Industry News

Cotton Farmer suffers stroke
Sprint Car legend legend Al "Cotton" Farmer had a stroke and is now
unable to talk and cannot have visitors. Please remember Cotton in
your prayers. He will have a long recovery time, probably at least 6
months. One of the true GLADIATORS.

3/1/04Formula Renault

Eurointernational
announces 2004 V6 lineup Eurointernational
Group, which campaigned Juan Ponte of Argentina to second
place in the inaugural Formula Renault Winter Invitational
Championship, announced its driver line up for the 2004
Formula Renault V6 Eurocup Championship. Italian drivers
Giorgio Mondini and Stefano Proetto will be behind the wheel
of the two Formula Renault V6 cars for the entire 19-race
championship. Euro International Inc. plans to enter up to
two more Formula Renault V6 cars in selected Eurocup races
in preparation of the 2005 North American Formula Renault V6
Championship.

“The work and research started during the 2003 Formula
Renault V6 season, and continued during the winter start to
show the first results with Giorgio and Stefano
performances” said Team owner Antonio Ferrari. “Their talent
will make both top contenders for the 2004 Formula Renault
V6 title. We are planning to add up two more new Formula
Renault V6 cars during this season for selected Eurocup
races and then bring the cars in USA in preparation of the
2005 North America Formula Renault V6 Championship.”

The 2004 Formula Renault V6 Championship will start in
Monza, Italy next March 25-28, with all races televised on
EUROSPORT in over 50 Countries around the World.

The North American Formula Renault Championships are
sanctioned by Grand American, and provide a ladder for
drivers to develop their talent, with a full in-house
open-wheel progression available. The Formula Renault
V6 Championship is the top rung on the North American
Formula Renault Championship ladder, which also includes the
North American Formula Renault 1600 Championship and the
North American Formula Renault 2000 Championship. The
Formula Renault V6 is expected to make its North American
competition debut in the latter stages of the 2004 North
American Formula Renault 2000 season.

3/1/04

Allmendinger repeats as
most promising For
the second time in as many years, readers of RACER Magazine
and SPEEDTV.com have voted A.J. Allmendinger the "Most
Promising Road Racer of the Year." Allmendinger first won
the RACER title following a dominating season in the 2002
Barber Dodge Pro Series, a season in which he won six races
and claimed the series championship. Allmendinger's
performance in the 2003 Toyota Atlantic Championship
Presented by Yokohama was equally as dominant, and enabled
the youngster to repeat as Most Promising Road Racer. In
2003, Allmendinger won a Toyota Atlantic rookie record seven
races and tied the all-time Atlantic record (set in 1976 by
Gilles Villeneuve) for most poles in a single season when he
placed his bright yellow RuSPORT machine on the inside of
the front row a total of nine times. He outdistanced
Scotland's Ryan Dalziel by 26 points en route to the 2003
Toyota Atlantic title. Allmendinger has parlayed his
performance over the past two years into a Champ Car ride,
as RuSPORT announced last month that it was entering the
Champ Car World Series in 2004 with Allmendinger as its
driver. "One thing that is so big in my eyes is that people
like Paul Tracy and Bruno Junqueira and all these guys
that-over the past two or three seasons I've really watched
because I wanted to be a part of it and race against those
guys-I'm going to get to do it now," said Allmendinger. "I'm
part of them now. I think that's the most exciting thing out
there. Those guys are the best in North American open-wheel
racing in my belief, and I'm going to be a part of it now.
When I beat them, and I will beat them at some point this
year, that's going to be the most exciting thing." This is
the second award of the off-season for Allmendinger. In
January, he was named to the American Auto Racing Writers
and Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) All-America First
Team.

3/1/04

Rob
Hill to Rocketsports Rocketsports
Racing welcomes Crew Chief Robin Hill to the 2004 Champ Car
team. Hill has an impressive history as chief mechanic for
some of Champ Car’s greatest champion teams and drivers.
Hill experienced his first championship victory with Bobby
Rahal in 1992 and was part of the record-setting run of four
consecutive championships at Target/Chip Ganassi Racing,
which began with Jimmy Vasser’s title in 1996. Hill served
as the chief mechanic for three of those four championships,
earning titles in 1997/1998 with Alex Zanardi, and then
captured the championship title and the rookie record for
number of poles (7) and podiums (7) with Juan Montoya in
1999. Originally from England, Hill worked in European F2
and F3 series before beginning his career in America in 1985
with Jeff Andretti in the Super Vee series. Hill has also
worked with drivers Danny Sullivan (Patrick Racing, 1991),
Jimmy Vasser, Bruno Junqueira and rookie, Ryan Hunter-Reay.
[Above right: Hill was reunited with Zanardi in 2003
for the momentous completion of Zanardi’s run at the
EuroSpeedway in Lausitz, Germany. Photo Credit: LAT]

3/1/04

SPEED Channel to show
entire F1 season SPEED Channel's 2004
Formula One television season begins with same-day coverage
of practice from the Australian Grand Prix at 11 p.m. ET on
March 4. Veteran broadcaster Bob Varsha returns to the SPEED
booth after a two-year absence to head up the five-star team
of David Hobbs, Steve Matchett and Peter Windsor.

"My first full season covering Formula One began on Easter
Sunday 1989 in Brazil, where my booth partner was David
Hobbs," Varsha said. "In 1994, I called the German GP in
Hockenheim when a miscue in the Benetton pits turned
mechanic Steve Matchett into a poster boy for fire safety.
And during those years, I wore out untold pairs of shoes
looking for Peter Windsor to get a comment about whichever
team he was helping run at the time. So you can see why I'm
ecstatic about rejoining, David, Steve and Peter to bring
Formula One to our SPEED viewers again. To paraphrase Darth
Vader, it is our destiny."

SPEED Channel will air the entire 2004 F1 season live,
beginning with the Australian Grand Prix on March 6 at 9:30
p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT. In addition, SPEED will begin this
season's F1 Decade, featuring the 1994 Grand Prix season.
The full Australian GP television schedule:

March 8 -- F1 Decade 1994 Brazilian GP (4 p.m. ET)
Despite Varsha's contention that 'prognostication is a
fool's errand,' SPEED Channel's experienced F1 on-air team
makes its picks for the 2004 season:Varsha
Top three drivers: Michael Schumacher; Juan Pablo Montoya,
Rubens Barrichello
Surprise of the year: Cristiano da Matta at Toyota will earn
his first victory
Best result by an unknown: Christian Klien at Jaguar Matchett
Top three drivers: Michael Schumacher (brilliant driving and
ultra-reliable chassis); Kimi Raikkonen (car will not be up
to the job of winning the championship but McLaren will work
like dogs to improve the MP4-19 throughout the season);
Montoya (close call between him and Kimi. I suspect the FW26
will not be as quick as many think/wish/hope)
Surprise of the year: Minardi may pull off a surprise
one-two finish at Monaco; all it needs is for the other 18
cars to drop out and they will be in with a fighting chance.Windsor
Top three drivers: Rubens Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher,
Michael Schumacher
Best result by an unknown: Takuma Sato will score a podium
finish Hobbs
Top three drivers: Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya,
Kimi Raikkonen
Surprise of the year: Jenson Button will have a better year
than people expect

In 2004, SPEED Channel is the exclusive U.S. cable home for
many of the top motor sports series in the world. In
addition, SPEED's weekly programming schedule brings car
enthusiast television to Prime Time Monday through Thursday.
Now available in more the 65 million homes in North America,
SPEED Channel is among the fastest growing sports cable
networks in the country and the home to NASCAR TV.

3/1/04

The secret to Hornish's
success?
A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, It seems like every
time there is a close finish in the IRL Sam Hornish wins.
I know he is their poster boy, so does he get extra RPM's
from the sealed IRL issued rev-limiter? Casey
Gilmore, Phoenix, AZ Dear Casey, We have heard
those rumors about Dale Earnhardt Jr. getting a slightly
bigger restrictor plate and Sam Hornish getting extra RPM.
We believe the secret to Sam's success is his ability to run
his car with a lower down force setup than the other
drivers. His teammate, Helio Castroneves, alluded to
it in the post-race interviews yesterday. Juan Montoya
blew away the competition at the Indy 500 in his one and
only try by running less down force and drag and used his
skill to carry the car through the corners with less down
force. Less drag means the car unloads quicker coming out of
the final corner and reaches maximum RPM sooner, carrying
him across the line in first. While we are not
suggesting Hornish is another Montoya (who excels on road
courses too), on ovals he's much like Mears and Foyt were --
they have that touch, that feel, in the seat of their pants,
to control a lower down force setup. Mark C.

3/1/04

Williams on cost-cutting
mission
Williams have shot another arrow across the brow of Ralf
Schumacher as they negotiate his contract renewal in the
media. Technical Director Patrick Head has now warned
that the team must cut costs - and that economizing will
take priority over the wish to only replace one driver.
"That wouldn't be optimal but we have to keep the company
operating and BMW, as we've already noted, will be
transferring far less into our accounts in 2005," Head told
Reuters when asked if Williams could afford to lose both
their drivers in 2005. "Thus, we've got to cut costs.
Nevertheless, a slot in a Williams car is an attractive
place to work for many drivers." That should make Ralf
Schumacher worry a bit.

Now, in an interview with The
Guardian, 'Schumacher confirmed he had not been misquoted.
He claimed the article had only been incorrect to suggest
that he had threatened to leave Williams.'

"I had an agreement with Frank before the last race at
Suzuka," an angry Ralf told the newspaper. "The contract was
drawn up and I was ready to sign in Japan. But Frank didn't
show up. I was told he'd changed his mind and wanted to talk
more. He is a tough negotiator and always tries to get a
better position for his team. I have no problem with that.
But he changed his mind after we had reached agreement. So I
said, 'OK, if you pull out of this contract then we shall
have to wait and see what happens.' I stopped all
negotiations. I don't want to talk about this contract now
until later in the season."

"I'm sure Frank Williams has his reasons for taking all
these decisions over the last few months," continued Ralf,
"but I don't really understand them. I don't care about next
year any more. Everything depends on this season."

"I was very surprised that
Williams didn't keep Juan," announced Ralf. "He is a top
driver but they gave him the opportunity to leave. Juan felt
he'd had enough and needed another challenge. But Williams
didn't fight too hard to keep him."

"I think it's a shame to lose Juan. It's even more
disappointing that he is moving to a strong team," he added.

Ralf's comments are bound to increase speculation that both
of Williams' current drivers will be leaving at the end of
2004 - and he made no attempt to quell those suggestions.

"All that matters is that we have a very good car this year.
I hope to stay at Williams, but you never know exactly what
will happen in Formula One."

3/1/04

Ralf Schumacher: Dixon who?
According to this New Zealand newspaper
article, Scott Dixon's name may be on New
Zealanders' minds as a racing legend but the name means
nothing to Formula One driver Ralf Schumacher.
The 28-year-old German made a typically speedy visit to
Auckland yesterday to launch BMW's new 6 series coupe. He
flew out last night to Melbourne to prepare for Sunday's
Grand Prix.

But Michael Schumacher's younger brother has no idea who
Dixon, winner of last year's Indy Racing League, is –
shrugging his shoulders at yesterday's launch.
"He must be good anyway," when told of Dixon's success.

Asked what advice he would give to the younger man,
Schumacher said it was difficult because he had never been
in an American race car. Picking the right team was
important, he said. "Otherwise you might look to
leave a winning situation for the sake of being in Formula
One. Obviously winning in America, he should try to come to
a top team, otherwise it's not worth trying."
Dixon's mother Glenys Dixon told The Dominion Post last week
that her son was likely to have a Formula One deal sewn up
within the next couple of weeks. He has been visiting
Ferrari, Williams and McLaren over the past few months.
Dixon crashed in the first race of his 2004 campaign in
Florida yesterday. The Kiwi was leading when he spun
into a barrier guarding the entrance to pit road as he
slowed on the safety lane to make a scheduled stop on the
89th lap of the 200-lap race.

3/1/04

Decent attendance in Homestead2nd
UPDATE
According to the City of Homestead (the actual owners of the
track) the grandstand capacity is 60,250. Given that,
yesterday's attendance figures of between 30,000 and 32,000
appear about right. 3/1/04 - The Indy Star estimated the crowd at 30,000,
but we heard management say 32,000 tickets were sold as of
Saturday (20,000 to Marlboro as giveaways), up 15% from last
year. 2/29/04 - After
dismal Friday and Saturday numbers (near zero), the IRL pulled in a
surprisingly strong attendance today in Homestead as evidenced by the
photos below. Although the entire first end was empty what was
open to fans was fairly full. The grandstand seats 75,000 so a
high estimate was 40,000 in attendance. Perhaps there is some
hope after all.

43 cars a myth
NASCAR chief operating officer George Pyne denies that NASCAR
recruited drivers to race at Rockingham, where several field
fillers completed the advertised 43-car field. Pyne says
it's a myth that the TV contracts require 43 drivers to be
in a Cup race. "I asked the question point blank to our
group, and they reported that we're not recruiting people to
show up," Pyne says. "That's my understanding." Pyne says
decreasing the field in the future is not out of the
question.
Yahoo Sports/Sporting News

3/1/04

FIA and Mosley to move to Monaco
According to reports in the British press, FIA President Max Mosley is
selling his London home and the FIA headquarters in order to relocate
to Monaco to avoid any possible punishment resulting from the newly
introduced European Arrest Warrant for both he and the FIA.
Under the new law, several high ranking Formula One officials,
including team owners and members of the sports governing body, could
be held responsible for a fatality on the circuit. "This is not
a snap decision. We have been discussing this legislation for some
time and our advice is that this is the best protection,” he told the
Times. “As long as I am president of the FIA I will have to live in
Monaco for my own safety and to avoid a law which is not sensible when
applied to Formula One. If some local policy authority wants a
scapegoat for an accident at a circuit they could easily come after me
or Charlie Whiting [Formula One's racing director]. They can come
after you in your own home - but not if I am in Monaco."

3/1/04Industry News

Ferrari to stay private for now
Fiat has announced that it is to shelve plans to take Ferrari public
because of deteriorating conditions on the Italian stock market. Chief
executive Giuseppe Morchio said that the IPO would be postponed
indefinitely while the Maranello firm worked to improve sales of
Maserati models.

3/1/04

Formula One feeling serious growing
pains
This NY Times
article says (excerpts), Television has turned Formula One
into a massive, rich, worldwide sport, but can it survive as a
television show alone?.....Formula One is still struggling with its
transformation from a spectator sport to one built for a television
audience, which provides another $350 million a year in contracts with
broadcasters worldwide. For much of its history, the prime sources of
revenue and exposure were the well-attended events supported by
devoted fans, many of whom would travel around Europe to see races.

Television has created a much larger fan base. As more than 300
million viewers tuned in to watch the races, sponsors paid millions of
dollars to reach them. Lately, those sponsors have been joined by
nations seeking to attract television exposure — and tourism from the
traveling fans — to build a racing industry.

China rates its Formula One race in importance with its 2008 Olympics,
said Yu Zaiqing, deputy director of the State Sports General
Administration of China and a member of the International Olympic
Committee, on the circuit's Web site.

To win a spot on the exclusive calendar of 16 to 18 races, governments
are investing in increasingly luxurious and spectacular facilities.
Bahrain has spent $150 million in its track near the capital, Manama;
Shanghai has invested at least twice that amount. Both must also pay
the hosting fees. According to an article in the current issue of F1i,
a Belgian racing magazine, China's promoters are paying Formula One
$50 million a season for a package deal that covers the rights to the
race and the broadcast rights within China.

How will these new sites pay it all back?

Bahrain, where the capital's population is only 175,000, is hoping for
100,000 people at the race over the full weekend. But with ticket
prices starting at $100, only 40,000 have been sold so far. The
racecourse has said that it aims to attract 20,000 spectators from
Europe. But the goal will not be helped by fears of terrorism — fueled
by a statement from the British Consulate that the race might be the
target of an attack. Furthermore, there are only 13,000 hotel rooms in
Bahrain, at least 4,000 of which will be used by Formula One teams,
sponsors and journalists.

Another problem is that race day, which is always a Sunday, is a
workday in Bahrain, where the weekend is Thursday and Friday.

Shanghai's is also unfinished and has 200,000 seats — and even if they
attract the fans to fill the seats, how long will it take for the
novelty to wear off? Or, conversely, for the sport to catch on?

The Hungarian Grand Prix, Formula One's foray into Eastern Europe that
began in 1986, is still struggling for local spectators. Malaysia,
where Formula One moved in 1999, has still not come close to filling
its 130,000 seats.

Complicating matters further, Formula One's expansion comes at a time
when it is losing trackside spectators in its home territory. Max
Mosley, president of the International Automobile Federation, the
sport's governing body, said earlier this month that this was because
promoters were charging too much for tickets.

Yet they must pay Formula One's fees, and outside of government
subsidies, seat sales are the only way promoters can recoup as they do
not own the rights to trackside billboards, which are owned by a
Formula One company.

3/1/04

Overheard at Homestead What drivers thought about the
Speedway and its new configuration - "Quite boring. Maybe tomorrow
with traffic it will be better."...........Many of the IRL drivers
where complaining about Darren Manning over their radios during the
race - saying that he was all over the place. After the race he
admitted that he almost spun out twice and that it wasn't until later
in the race he felt comfortable.........Many of the drivers after the
race were despondent with the fact that the Penske cars were so
superior to the others. Scott Sharp bemoaned the fact that "it is
getting harder for the little guys to compete." Milka Duno was
the inside joke of the weekend. She got her ride with the aid of CITGO sponsorship. CITGO of Venezuela. So in actuality she is
receiving aid from the Chavez Government which does not make her
popular among most Latinos in South Florida (Venezuelans, Cubans, etc.). In fact there were a smattering of boos. Once again a case of the
powers that be not having a clue about what is the so-called Hispanic
Market. The other joke was that Milka was so slow out there.
Watched follow almost 8 Laps behind a slower GT car. A car with 150
less HP and almost 1000 lbs more weight. When she finally did pass it
was because the BMW was told to pull over and let her pass by a
flagman. Even then she could not pull away from the much slower GT.
Her stint was short. Only about 45 mins. After that Andy Wallace
took over and proved to everyone what a great driver he really is. Of
course Milka got all the glory. The Grand-Am people were ecstatic. Can
you blame them?.............Toyota reps where livid when the leading
Toyota (Lexus) cars knocked themselves out of what should have been a
1-2 finish.....Word is that Marlboro sent out 20,000 free tickets for
the event, which explains the decent attendance....Monday night there
will be a reception for Emerson Fittipaldi in Miami. It is a send off
for his 2 Indy 500 winning cars. They are going to a museum in
Brazil........The bust of Emmo was back in its place at the HMS. For
Marlboro of course. The workers there said it will be removed again by
next week and sent back to storage in the warehouse. They no longer
keep it there since Emmo supported the CART race in Miami. How
childish!

Seen at Homestead
- II Ryan Hunter-Reay (looking for more sponsors to
cement his Champ Car ride), Roberto Moreno (Always at the races in
South Florida), and Barber Dodge Champ Leo Maia (Looking for a ride).
Leo Maia and Roberto Moreno watched the race as guests of Michael
Shank Racing (Doran Daytona Prototype).

2/29/04

American
road racer Giebler wins first time out in IPSUPDATE
AutoRacing1.com has learned the reason Giebler passed and pulled away
from Medeiros over the last five laps was because Medeiros had a badly
blistered right rear tire. The race was red-flagged once and
right side tires changed on all cars for that very problem. Look
for a slightly harder compound in 2005. 2/29/04 - Three
weeks ago, Phil Giebler climbed into an IRL Menard's
Infiniti Pro Series™ car for the first and only time.
Sunday, he made his way to Victory Lane for the first time.

After living and racing in Europe for the past five seasons,
Giebler, an Oxnard, CA, native who had a tryout with Keith
Duesenberg Racing at the Open Test in Phoenix on Feb. 10 and
didn't sign with the team until late this week, pulled away
from Thiago Medeiros on the final two laps to win the
Homestead-Miami 100 at Homestead-Miami Intl Speedway.

Giebler, driving the Western Union Speed Team
Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone, joined Mark Taylor in 2003 and
A.J. Foyt IV in 2002 as drivers to win their first Menards
Infinity Pro Series™race. Both went on to win the IPS
Championship. It was the third victory for Keith Duesenberg
Racing in the series.

“I was just trying to run a good race and learn a lot,” said
Giebler, who competed in FIA F3000 last year. “I'm just very
glad to get this under my belt and make a run for the title.
This is my very first oval race, and I'm starting to like it
already.”

Giebler had plenty to like from his performance, though he
had to be push-started at the start and started from the
rear of the field. He and Medeiros were sparring with six
laps left, and Giebler got past him coming out of Turn 4. He
won by 4.1372 seconds after Medeiros backed off.

“It was an amazing weekend,” said Giebler, who qualified
sixth. “You know, we ran all weekend, and we were trying to
improve the car the whole time. We ended up with a really
consistent car, that’s for sure. We went into qualifying,
and we had a few little problems. We changed the engine for
the race. The team worked all night, so I was really pleased
that everything just came together. You know, they wanted to
give me the best equipment, and that’s what they did.
They're great people"

“We couldn't get the car started on the pre-grid, so we had
to start from the back. We had to push-start the car.
Starting from the back was a bit of a problem for me at
first, especially if we had stayed green the whole way. I
just tried to be smooth, make smart moves and get up to the
front as fast as I could. But, obviously, I wanted to make
sure I stayed on the track in case a yellow came out. I
wasn't sure what to expect, running with drivers I didn't
know, on a track I'd never seen, in a formula I'd spent only
3/4's of a day in and in my first oval start. Everything
worked out well and I'm overjoyed. I can't wait to get to
Phoenix.”

PK Sport announces Sebring driver
lineup
PK Sport team owner Mike Pickup has announced the driver lineup for the
British sports car racing team's two-car assault on the 52nd annual
Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the opening race of the 2004 American
Le Mans Series season. The team will be in its second full ALMS
season.
More....

2/29/04

Toyota welcomes ESPN Star Sports as new
sponsor
Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Motorsport GmbH announced today
that ESPN Star Sports has become a sponsor for the Panasonic Toyota
Racing Formula 1 team.
This new deal will see ESPN Star Sports logo appear on the side
winglets of Toyota's TF104 race car from the first race of the 2004
season in Melbourne, Australia next weekend.

ESPN Star Sports is joint venture between two of the world's leading
cable and satellite broadcasters, ESPN Inc. and STAR.

ESPN Star Sports is Asia's complete sports provider that reaches over
128 million households with ESPN and over 57 million households with
STAR Sports. They bring the world's premier live sports and leading
regional events to viewers 24 hours a day.

Rik Dovey, Managing Director, ESPN STAR Sports, commented on the
sponsorship: "We are pleased and honored to become a part of the
Toyota F1 Team for the coming season. ESPN STAR Sports and the Toyota
Motor Corporation already have a strong business partnership across
sporting events and broadcasting, and now, the extension of this into
Formula 1 racing further strengthens the relationship between our
companies".

John Howett, President of Toyota Motorsport GmbH, welcomed ESPN Star
Sports by adding: "It is a great pleasure that ESPN Star Sports joins
Panasonic Toyota Racing as our sponsor just before the new season is
about to start in Melbourne. We are all set for the new competition,
and we would like to keep showing our challenging spirit to motorsport
fans".

2/29/04

Stoddart says engine manufacturers
reneged
Minardi boss Paul Stoddart is once again on the warpath for affordable
Formula One engines. The outspoken Aussie says he will withdraw his
vote in favor of keeping traction control unless the five engine
manufacturers live up to their promise of providing affordable engines
to non-manufacturer teams. FIA, the governing body of motorsport,
initially wanted to ban all forms of traction control and electronic
driver aids last season. However, last April the F1 teams all agreed
to ban launch control and fully automatic gearboxes but keep traction
control. In return, teams such as Minardi, Jordan and Sauber would
have the option to purchase engines from the major manufacturers at
substantially reduced rates, believed to be $10-million. So far, only
Mercedes has stepped forward to say they would be willing to supply a
second team for that price. Ferrari, BMW, Renault, Toyota and Ford
have yet to confirm their participation.

"A solid commitment by the manufacturers was made on April 29 to cut
engine costs in return for myself and Jordan agreeing the continued
use of traction control," Stoddart tells the British Sun newspaper.
"But so far nothing has happened. Unless something is forthcoming, and
the promises made honored, I will withdraw my vote on traction
control. That will cause them major problems." McLaren boss Ron Dennis
estimates such a move will cost him tens of millions of dollars in
design and development to eliminate traction control at this stage of
the year. Stoddart is unsympathetic.

"I voted it through in the belief that manufacturers would help us cut
engine bill costs. But they appear to have had a memory loss and
that's not the way to do business." Last year, Stoddart threatened to
remove the electronic devices from his cars prior to the British Grand
Prix, then lodge a formal protest against the rest of the field for
running illegal machinery under the rules. Such a move would have
thrown the Formula One championship into chaos. While he isn't
threatening the same move for the season opening race just yet, he is
looking for concrete results - not just words. "This isn't me whining
or about our survival. We have our finances in place but, if we have
to continue paying an extortionate amount for the engines, there's no
money left to develop our cars." Unless the situation is resovled,
next week's scheduled press conference in Melbourne on Friday
involving Stoddart and four other team owners could prove to be an
explosive one.

2/29/04

Magnussen and Papis crash while going
for lead
Jan Magnussen was going for the lead with seven laps to go in the
Grand Prix of Miami Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but
unfortunately he and the driver he was battling, Max Papis, had
contact which resulted in the Doran-Lista DORAN JE4 Lexus ending up
spun out in turn one. The team ended up 19th overall and 14th in the
Daytona Prototype class at the finish of the 250-mile, 109-lap race on
the 2.3-mile, 11-turn road course. Everyone there knew that the
Lebanon, Ohio-based team was in contention for the victory, however.
Magnussen, who was making his first appearance with the team and
competing in the Grand American Rolex Series and at this track for the
first time, was critical of the driver he was racing against when the
contact occurred. "I can't believe that Max Papis took me out,"
he said. "He hit me on the frontstretch so hard that it broke the
suspension. I spun around and just stopped on the grass; I couldn't
get going again. I don't know if a tire is flat or not. "He hit
me maybe six or seven times, but I didn't once turn the steering wheel
in on him." Magnussen said the pair had contact earlier which
may have provoked the problem. "I passed him briefly on the
restart and we had contact; maybe that is why he got emotional and hit
me so many times when I got beside him again," he said. "But there is
no excuse for hitting me like he did."

2/29/04

Seen at Homestead Saturday In
bottom left photo former Formula One drivers Eddie Irvine (L) and
Christian Fittipaldi chat during qualifying for the IRL IndyCar
Series Toyota Indy 300 on February 28, 2004 at Homestead-Miami
Speedway in Homestead, Florida. In bottom right photo Irvine
surveys the 2nd straight day of near empty grandstands.

Entire front row in
Homestead has roots in CART Where
are all those USAC short trackers?
With all the recent stories about Champ Car drivers making
up most of the IRL field these days, it's interesting to note
that both Buddy Rice and Alex Barron, who make up the front
row for tomorrow's IRL race at Homestead, are not only both
graduates of the Champ Car ladder system, but of the same
team... Lynx Racing. Barron won both the Toyota Atlantic
'Rookie of the Year' award and the series championship
driving for Lynx in 1997. That same year Buddy Rice drove
for the team in the F2000 series, before moving up to the
Lynx Atlantic seat when Barron was signed by Dan Gurney's
All-American Racers in 1998.

Kelly Collins to Drive Mobil One 12
Hours of Sebring with TRG The Racer's Group announced today that
longtime sports car star Kelly Collins will join the team for the 12
Hours of Sebring, driving the #66 New Century Mortgage/The Racer's
Group Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Collins last drove a Porsche in 1999, when
he and Cort Wagner teamed to win both the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona
and the 12 Hours of Sebring. For the past four years, he has been a
Corvette works driver, where he has many podium finishes, including
wins at Petit Le Mans, Road America, Trois-Rivieres, and Laguna Seca,
and two second place finishes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He joins
Porsche factory driver Patrick Long, who begins his first full season
of American Le Mans racing, and Cort Wagner, 1999 ALMS GT Driver's
Champion.

2/28/04

Blundell: Mixed emotions on Champ
Car survival This Crash.Net
article says that former Formula One
and CART star Mark Blundell has admitted that he is in two minds over
the news that the Champ Car World Series has survived into 2004. Speaking
exclusively to Crash.Net, the former PacWest driver - and
multiple race winner - said that he was happy that Champ Cars
continued to run as a stand-alone series, but expressed his concern
that the Championship was a shadow of its former self. “I'm glad to
see that, in one respect, it is still around, but sad, in another,
that it is not going to be around in the same guise as what it was,"
Blundell, now a television analyst for British Formula One coverage,
said, "When I was competing, it was definitely a great place to be. I
just hope that they [OWRS] do the right thing, and make sure it starts
to grow again because, at the moment, there is a diminishing grid, and
a diminishing depth of drivers and teams out there." Despite his
current downbeat view, however, Blundell was hopeful that the series
would regain its former glory. “I think, if the future is going to
grow, they've got to build their stars back up and get some resources
in there," he reasoned, "And they have to make sure that they don't go
head on with the IRL. They've got a lot to offer, but they got to make
sure they position it right."

2/28/04

IPS Series in serious trouble
Only 9 cars (make that 10 today) showed up in Homestead this weekend for the
Infiniti Pro Series race. Not only is the IRL's top
series in trouble, the IPS support series is in even worse
shape. Tony George is going to have to buy more cars
to prop it up.

2/28/04

Is America a NASCAR-only
nation?
This Valvoline
article raises an interesting question, is America a
NASCAR-only nation? We think it pretty much is, and
hence why Champ Cars must look outside the USA borders to
cement its future. Contrast that with domestic-only
series like the IRL that have zero hope of making any
inroads into the NASCAR stranglehold on America. Champ
Cars should limit their USA races to the very best 8 to 10
markets. The rest should be international. While
some Americans may disagree with us, we respond with - if
Tony George had not split Indy Car racing in two and killed
it, thereby allowing NASCAR to become a monopoly, things
could be different. But we can't change history - it
is what it is. Mark C.

2/28/04

Verstappen threatens to sue
Trust
Jos Verstappen and his manager (and former F1 driver) Huub
Rothengatter are furious with former sponsor Trust. Trust is
about to close a deal with the Jordan team, but according to
Rothengatter a deal between Trust and the Jordan F1 team is
impossible because the contract they have precludes it.
Trust is currently working on a deal with Jordan - without
Verstappen.

According to the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, Eddie
Jordan has received a letter from Verstappen's legal
advisors. The letter mentions the agreement between Trust
and Verstappen and thus Jordan should not make a deal with
Trust. Rothengatter personally didn't want to comment on the
case. However, he did say he came to an agreement at the
beginning of the season on certain issues with Trust.

Trust director Michel Perridon says there is no problem to
sign a deal with the Jordan team: "I never closed a deal
with Verstappen. I wonder what's wrong with them? I tried
the best I could to get him in Formula One and now I get
this as a 'thank you'."

2/28/04

Former NASCAR driver drowns
This AP article
says, Four-time NASCAR Winston West Series champion Roy Smith
drowned when a commercial fishing trawler sank off northern Vancouver
Island, rescue officials said. Smith, 59, of Malahat, was a crew
member of the 80-foot Hope Bay, which foundered in heavy seas early
Thursday about 60 miles north of Vancouver Island in Queen Charlotte
Sound. Two other members died, and one was rescued, Dennis Kimoto of
the Rescue Coordination Center in Victoria said. Smith competed in the
Daytona 500 three times, and was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport
Hall of Fame in 2002. His best finish at Daytona was 10th in 1982. The
other victims were Derek Myers, 48, of Victoria, and Dennis Webber,
44, of Errington. Michael Slusar of Nanaimo, a Canadian Fisheries
Department observer, was in good condition Thursday after being
rescued and taken to Port Hardy, along with the bodies of two crew
members. The body of a third man was recovered several hours later,
Kimoto said. It wasn't immediately clear when Smith's body was found.
"I know people in the trawl fleet are very upset. They were well-known
and well-qualified,'' Stuart Nelson of the Deep Sea Trawlers
Association said.

2/28/04

Happy Birthday Mario and Sebastien
Today is the birthday of current Champ Car driver Sebastien Bourdais
and former driver, and racing legend, Mario Andretti, who turns 64
today.

2/28/04

IRL multicar crashes soaring
[Editor's Note: Based on test speeds at Homestead Friday,
where the entire field was separated by just 0.5 seconds, it appears
that "pack" racing will continue in the IRL. If it does, it's
safe to bet there are going to be some horrific crashes again in 2004.
All fans should pray for the drivers, because (as Brian Barnhart
admits below) the IRL is an artificially managed series to create
close racing (no talent required) and the drivers are just sacrificial
lambs in the quest for that next 0.005 sec photo finish.]
Excerpts from this Indystar.com
article says that the Indy Racing League has built its
reputation on racing closer and faster than any other motorsport. But
that has come at a significant price. The frequency of multicar
crashes has increased by at least 50 percent in each of the past three
seasons, according to analysis of league box scores by The
Indianapolis Star. Last year, the league had a record 21 multicar
crashes compared with 14 in 2002 and nine in 2001. League officials
hope to end that trend when new safety-motivated, speed-reducing rule
changes go into effect this year. About 200 pounds of downforce is
being removed from cars starting Sunday, when the 2004 IRL season
opener unfolds at Homestead-Miami Speedway. By May, less powerful
engines will be the norm.

The tug-of-war between technology and safety is similar to what
occurred after Arie Luyendyk qualified for the Indianapolis 500 in
1996 at a record 236.986 mph. A year later, in a new, non-turbocharged
car, he took the pole at slightly faster than 218. The changes are
welcomed by drivers past and present. "The competition is keener now,
and look at how much speed has been gained since my day," said Johnny
Rutherford, whose career spanned 1963 to 1988. "There was a time when
they went 121 miles per hour at the (Indianapolis Motor) Speedway. Now
they're going 231. As speeds go up, so do the probability of multicar
crashes. When you slow the cars down, you give the driver a little
more reaction time, no matter how minuscule it is." Rutherford, who
works for the IRL, would like to see the IRL drop speeds to 200 mph.
Two-time IRL champion Sam Hornish Jr. will take any relief that league
officials can provide, which this year should be 5-10 mph at most
tracks. "Running in packs at 220 mph is great, but sometimes it's too
much," Hornish said. "It's a recipe for disaster."

Brian Barnhart, the IRL's senior vice president of operations,
acknowledged the climbing rate of multicar crashes and is working to
reduce the odds of them happening in the league's 16-race season. The
engines will be reduced to a 3.0-liter configuration beginning with
the Indy 500 in May. Barnhart also hopes to spread the cars out on the
track with aerodynamic changes. "We put on arguably the best show in
racing because of our close racing, but if something happens it tends
to collect more cars," he said. "That's the Catch-22. These rules
should open things up instead of stacking cars on top of each other."

Champ Car averaged just more than one multicar crash per race in the
same three years. But the majority of its races were on road courses
and street circuits, where speeds are lower. Critics have long
contended that the IRL, like NASCAR, artificially created its
competition by trying to equalize cars for the sake of entertainment.
Barnhart doesn't dispute managing the competition, but he said "that's
what rules do in every series." In this case, Barnhart said,
removing downforce, which should help plant the cars on the track and
make them easier to drive, will challenge teams to make crucial
decisions about wing angles and other setups. Theoretically, less
talented drivers require more help from the wings to drive without
lifting off the accelerator.

Keeping the cars on the track might have another side benefit for
drivers who vividly remember two dramatic single-car test crashes at
IMS last year. In April, Mario Andretti ran over debris and flipped
his car twice before landing cleanly and walking away uninjured. In
late October, Tony Renna died after his car flew into the fence. IRL
President Tony George cautioned that the rule changes don't
necessarily make the league safer. "(Racing) isn't tiddlywinks," he
said. "It's dangerous."

2/28/04

Champ Cars back in Portland....for now
This Portland Oregonian
article says, The contract hasn't been signed, but barring a
last-minute snag, the Champ Car World Series has cemented Portland on
its 2004 schedule. The 21st Champ Car race at Portland
International Raceway will be June 18-20, and the three-day program
will include a Trans-Am race.

"I'm confident we're going to have an event, and I'm happy for all of
the fans in Portland who have supported us," said Paul Gentilozzi, one
of three Champ Car team owners who won a court battle with Tony George
and the Indy Racing League for the assets of bankrupt Championship
Auto Racing Teams.

It took some give-and-take by Champ Car series officials, a lot of
work from city commissioner Jim Francesconi's office and the
salesmanship of promoter Mike Nealy to keep the struggling Portland
race from being dropped off the schedule.

Poor attendance, dwindling sponsorship and the uncertainty of CART's
future made for a gloomy offseason in Portland. Things didn't begin to
brighten until Gentilozzi's group beat the IRL in court.
Now, the two sides are close to finalizing a one-year agreement. The
economic impact of the race -- the state's largest sporting event --
has been estimated at $8 million.

"We have the documents," Nealy said Thursday. "But for me to sit here
and tell you it's a done deal . . . let's just say I'm extremely
optimistic." Nealy said he wasn't prepared to announce the
sponsorship package for Portland but should have news of a major
sponsor or sponsors soon.

After several delays, Champ Car is expected to announce its completed
2004 schedule next week, along with its TV package.

Portland's discussions with the rival Indy Racing League about a
possible IndyCar series race at PIR in 2005 haven't helped Nealy's
efforts to keep the Champ Car event alive, but Gentilozzi said it
didn't affect his stance on keeping Portland in the fold.
"If they want to see an IRL race, I'll send them a ticket for
Indianapolis," Gentilozzi said, joking. "It didn't bother me a bit.
They've got to do what's best for the motor sports fans in Portland."

Whereas Nealy would favor signing an extension with Champ Car to
continue the race in 2005 and beyond, others think Portland might get
a better 2005 deal with the IRL, which will add road courses to its
previously exclusive oval-track schedule next year. The rub is, there
is no guarantee the IRL will include Portland, just some early talk
that the IRL "is very much interested."

"If the (Champ Car) race is coming back this year, terrific," said
Portland businessman Bob Ames, who helped bring the race to Portland
in 1984. "But you don't want this to preclude you dealing with the
IRL. From my point of view, it remains to be seen what these guys
(Champ Car) are going to pull off.

"There's only so much sponsorship, media attention and TV coverage out
there. And there's no question, purely from a business approach, the
IRL is the stronger organization. As a business person, who would I
sign with today, knowing what I know? There isn't any question. That's
not to say I want to see the (Champ Car) race pulled, because having a
race this summer beats going dark. But I don't want to see it
interfere with future opportunities."

Bill Hildick, the former Portland race chairman, always has been a
strong supporter of the former CART series, but he's not opposed to
the IRL if the Champ Car event finally dries up.

"We've had 20 years of building (Champ Car) fans in Portland, and the
reality is there's a lot of open-wheel racing fans out there,
regardless of the political struggles of the two series," Hildick
said, adding that if IRL founder George "decides to go road racing,
why couldn't there be an IRL event here?"

2/28/04

Why bother? These
photos show the attendance at Homestead on Friday for the IRL cars.
If there were 50 to 100 fans there that would be a lot. We have
long maintained why bother to have 3-day race weekends for open wheel
oval track events? Clearly no one cares enough to sit and watch
cars drone around for hours on a Friday or Saturday. They should
be 1-day events - practice, qualify and race on Sunday. The IRL
and its sponsors are going to have to give away a lot of tickets for
Sunday, or use some trick photography, to make the crowd look decent
on TV Sunday. Like we have said - Open Wheel Oval Races - Stick
a fork in them, they're done. NASCAR rules the ovals.

2/28/04

Canadian ad agencies hit jackpot with
Champ Car races It looks like the Canadian's have a bit of
a controversy on their hands over how much commission some ad agencies
charged the government. This Toronto Star
article says, When the Molson Indy sought sponsorship money
from the federal government, it was off to the races for four
Quebec-based ad agencies. New documents obtained by the Star show that
in Toronto alone, the four Liberal-friendly agencies collected
$346,507 in commissions and production fees for handing over $1.2
million over five years to the Toronto Molson Indy car race. The firms
got even more — $364,286 — in commissions and fees for handing over
less — $1.19 million — to the Vancouver Molson Indy race over those
same years. The Molson Indy example shows not just how far the
Quebec-based agencies reached, but also how profitable the job of
handling government funds was for them, especially from 1997 to 2002,
before the auditor-general report raised real alarm. "In terms of the
quantum of the fee relative to the size of the grant ... it does
strike one as a bit generous," said Liberal MP John McKay (Scarborough
East). "I mean, it's essentially a third of the money. So that doesn't
seem to be quite right."

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